Article Clinical Medicine General Medicine Social Medicine

A proposal concerning exercise intensity with the Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure Exergame among older adults: A preliminary study

The Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure (RFA) (Nintendo, Kyoto, Japan) is a novel exergame that combines exercise and video game elements. Although previous RFA intervention studies have reported the health effects of the RFA, exercise intensity among older adults has not yet been documented. We hypothesized that the exercise intensity of older adults in the current RFA setting may be low. This preliminary study developed a range of prototype RFA intensity conditions and to evaluate exercise intensity among older adults. Six older adults (1 male/5 females, mean age 75.2±10.3 years old) participated in this study. Three RFA conditions were developed: "LOW" (the ‘default’ load. Older individual input actual gender and age), "MODERATE" (as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM]: 40%-59% heart rate reserve [HRR]), and "HIGH" (highest exercise intensity that older individuals could set in the game). Exercise intensity was assessed using the %HRR. The results show that the %HRR values for the conditions were 34.9%±4.1% (LOW), 40.0%±2.9% (MODERATE), and 52.3%±3.1% (HIGH). In conclusion, this preliminary study showed that, among the three prototype RFA conditions, both MODERATE and HIGH conditions generally attain moderate or greater intensity for older adults when assessed using the heart rate.

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Article Biology Environmental Sciences General Medicine Life Sciences and Basic Medicine Social Medicine

Relationship between physical education in the first year of university and exercise habits and physical and mental health in the following spring

The present study examined the relationship between taking physical education and health-related courses in the first year of university and the acquisition and maintenance of exercise habits and physical and mental health in the student’s second year. The study population consisted of university students was 2,483 in FY2017 and 2,352 in FY2018. Of these, the 2,293 students (1,744 men, 18.5 ± 1.0 years old; 549 women, 18.6 ± 1.0 years old) who responded to the self-administered questionnaire survey on daily living habits in both years were included in the analysis. The results showed that taking physical education and health-related courses in the first year was significantly related to exercise habits the following spring. The results also suggested that these courses were more strongly related to mental health than physical health. In addition, men were significantly more likely to acquire a new exercise habit and had more improved mental health. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the causal relationship between taking physical education and health-related courses and exercise habits and the maintenance and acquisition of physical and mental health, in addition to developing effective support methods for students who dislike gender differences and exercise.

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