Tai chi is a commonly-practiced activity, with lots of claims about its benefits. But how many of those benefits hold up to scientific scrutiny? And how do those benefits compare to the “gold standard” ways of achieving those benefits. For instance, the “gold standard” in improving strength is (obviously) strength training. The “gold standard” in improving endurance is cardio. How does tai chi compare to the “gold standard” in each of those categories (and others)? That’s what we’ll examine in this article.

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Original source: here.

Does Tai Chi Improve Strength?

Lack of strength is the biggest reason that seniors lose independence. Not flexibility, not endurance, but strength. Because they start lacking the strength to do basic things, like:

  • Going up the stairs.
  • Dressing themselves.
  • Household duties, like laundry, cleaning, etc.

So understandably, it’s very important to hold on to as much strength as possible as long as possible. Does tai chi help with that? Let’s see what the research has to say.

In one study, 40 sedentary people over 60 were recruited. They were divided into 2 groups:

  • Group 1: tai chi
  • Group 2: no changes

The group that did tai chi engaged in it 4-7 days per week, for 1 hour each day.

After 16 weeks, here were the results:

  • The hamstrings improved in strength by 19.9%
  • There were no improvements in strength in any other muscle (quads, calves, etc.)

A meta-analysis showed very similar results:

  • No improvement in most lower body muscles.
  • Some studies showed an improvement in hamstrings strength, and others didn’t.
  • Grip strength improved by only 2.4 kg.
  • There was no improvement in the strength of the biceps or triceps.

In other words, as far as strength is concerned, tai chi is basically a dud. Even if you were to just sit on the couch, and squeeze each muscle group as hard as you could for 10 seconds for a few sets, a few times per week, you’d get far superior improvements in strength, with far less time.

Next.

Does Tai Chi Improve Endurance?

Having good cardiovascular endurance is one of the most important things you can have to improve both the quality and the quantity of your life. Does tai chi help improve cardiovascular endurance? Let’s look at the research:

First, I have to say that the research is mixed. Most studies find either a nominal or nonexistent improvement in endurance. But one meta-analysis actually found a pretty impressive improvement. Let’s take a look at it.

This meta-analysis looked at people receiving rehab for heart disease. In those folks, after 12 months of tai chi, they saw an improvement in their endurance of about 20-25%. And they did tai chi 3-5 times per week for 50-54 minutes. Without any reference for comparison, it seems like a pretty impressive improvement. Until you compare it to:

  • Cardio
  • People who are not in rehab

 

With tai chi, an improvement like this required 3-5 times per week for 50-54 minutes. With cardio, you can get an improvement like that with 3 times per week for 30-45 minutes.

With tai chi, it took a whole year to get that kind of improvement. With cardio, you see improvements like this in about 3 months.

Additionally, this was the only meta-analysis that showed such a large increase in endurance. Why? Because of their selection of candidates. These were all people going to cardiac rehab. In other words, their endurance was already rock-bottom (the bare minimum needed to sustain life). It doesn’t take much work or effort to elevate their endurance. Anything that isn’t sitting on the couch would improve endurance in these people. So these aren’t even average sedentary people, and certainly not average fit people.

To improve the endurance of someone who’s at rock bottom is extremely easy. To improve the endurance of people who are already fit requires a lot more difficulty and finesse.

So let’s look at more typical results for tai chi. In another meta-analysis, this time of people who are sedentary, but who don’t have one leg in the grave, tai chi improved endurance by only about 3%. When you look at it in “real life” terms, as in whether it helps you be less winded when going up the stairs, 3% doesn’t make a noticeable difference.

Again, the gold standard for improving endurance is good ol’ cardio. What you do (running, walking on an incline, elliptical, rowing, swimming, cycling, etc.) doesn’t matter. What does matter is the frequency, intensity and duration.

 

Does Tai Chi Improve Balance?

So tai chi isn’t looking terribly effective when it comes to strength or endurance. But one major claim is that it improves balance. Let’s see what the science has to say.

In one meta-analysis, tai chi did indeed reduce the risk of falling by 30%.

In one study, tai chi reduced the risk of falling by 38% in 3 months. But this study was in people living in assisted-living homes. They’re extremely prone to falling to begin with. To echo the message from the previous section, the more out of shape someone is to begin with, the easier it is to improve their fitness.

So is tai chi effective? Check

But a more important question is whether tai chi is superior. Is it the most effective way to improve your balance? After all, you can spend an hour doing a good thing, or you can spend an hour doing the best thing. If the time invested is the same, why not do the superior option?

And yes, there is a far superior option to tai chi when it comes to balance. It’s called “perturbation training.” That is, perturbation training is very specific to trips, falls and slips. Here’s a short video detailing what it looks like.

In tai chi, the goal is to prevent yourself from losing your balance. Whereas in perturbation training, you lose balance on purpose (a training partner pushes you off balance, without you knowing in which direction) in a safe, controlled environment, so you train the body to “catch itself” when balance is lost.

In one study, 35 people over 70 were divided into 2 groups:

  • Group 1: perturbation training
  • Group 2: tai chi

 

Both groups trained for 30 minutes, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Across every measure, perturbation training was superior to tai chi:

 

  • Amount of training: in this study, the tai chi group didn’t improve their balance at all. Why did balance improve in other studies but not in this one? A big reason is that the studies that show balance improvements from tai chi have people training 3-7 times per week for 50-60 minutes. Here, they trained 3 times per week for 30 minutes.
  • Magnitude of results: in this study, falls were not directly measured, but other balance tests were given. However, one study showed a 50% reduction in falls from just a single session of perturbation training. To show you that I’m not cherry-picking my research, an entire meta-analysis found a 46% reduction in falls from perturbation training.
  • Speed of results: the tai chi group didn’t see any results (for reasons we talked about earlier). In this study, the perturbation training group saw results in just a single week. In the other study I mentioned, they saw results (large ones) in just a single session.
  • Durability: what happens after you stop training? Hopefully, you never stop, but if you do, how fast do the results go away? With tai chi, pretty fast. With perturbation training, they last and last and last. Like the energizer bunny. In this study, 6 months after perturbation training was stopped, their balance was still maintained.

 

I’m not aware of any other training method where after a single session or a single week you have such dramatic improvements in anything. To get a 50% improvement in strength from strength training required 6-15 months. A 50% improvement in cardio almost never happens, because cardio can only improve by about 30%. But with balance training, both the magnitude and speed are very high.

 

Does Tai Chi Improve Flexibility?

One meta-analysis showed that tai chi does indeed improve flexibility of only select muscles – the hamstrings and lower back. But there’s no consistent effect in other joints, like the neck, shoulders, hips, ankles, etc.

But for the little improvement that does happen, you have to spend a ridiculous amount of time – 3+ times per week for 50+ minutes at a time.

By comparison, the gold standard for flexibility improvements is a method of training called PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). Also called “contract-relax stretching.” Here’s a video showing what PNF stretching looks like.

There’s no comparison.

  • What you need: 30-90 seconds per muscle (and not every muscle needs to be stretched).
  • Frequency: 2-3 times per week.
  • And you basically normalize range of motion within 1-8 sessions. To maintain the newly-found range of motion takes a lot less work than to improve range of motion. All you need is to repeat that exercise approximately once very 1-3 months, and you can hold on to your new flexibility almost indefinitely.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it looks like tai chi does indeed have benefits, but it’s not the most effective tool for any job (strength, endurance, balance or flexibility). So if your goal is to improve any of those fitness qualities, there are much better tools for the job. But if you’re doing tai chi just because you love tai chi, well… keep it up