MOVE it or LOSE it
Consistent with our integrative philiosophy at VOITTO, we look to not only leverage contemporary Western-style strength and conditioning modalities into prescritive programs we try and embrace appropriate Eastern exercise practices.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views age-related decline as Qi stagnation and Yin–Yang imbalance, leading to reduced sinew (muscle) and bone strength.
Qi Gong & Tai Chi Movements for Enhanced Coordination & Mobility
As masters athletes age, integrating Eastern movement arts supercharges neuromuscular coordination, joint mobility and balance. Below are five evidence-based Qi Gong and Tai Chi exercises—each with video demos—to boost upper- and lower-body function on the turf.
Cross-Body Arm Circles (Tai Chi)
Practiced in the “Six Patterns of Total-Body Connectivity,” this drill drives cross-lateral coordination from shoulder girdle to core.
– How to: Stand with feet shoulder-width. Circle arms across the midline—right hand over left—then reverse. Keep torso relaxed and gaze forward.
– Benefits: Enhances interhemispheric neural coupling and shoulder ROM, improving strike and stick-handling speed (Li et al., 2001).
– Protocol: 2 minutes continuous, 3×/week.
– Video How-to
Cloud Hands (Tai Chi)
A flowing side-to-side pattern that links weight shifts with arm sweeps, cultivating dynamic stability and hip-shoulder dissociation.
– How to: From relaxed stance, shift weight onto right leg as both hands sweep right at chest height, then shift left and sweep left. Maintain soft knees, eyes following hand.
– Benefits: Improves trunk rotation, lateral weight transfer and vestibular function, reducing falls by 47 % in older adults (Wolf et al., 1996).
– Protocol: 3 minutes, daily.
Lift Hands and Look Forward (Baduanjin Qi Gong)
One of the Eight Pieces of Brocade, this exercise opens chest, mobilizes shoulders and enhances upper-back elasticity.
– How to: Inhale as you raise both arms laterally to shoulder level, palms up. Exhale lowering arms. Coordinate breath with movement.
– Benefits: Increases pectoral and trapezius flexibility, improves scapulothoracic rhythm and neural proprioception (Jahnke et al., 2010).
– Protocol: 2 minutes, twice daily
Biomechanical Mechanisms at Play
In much qi gong exercise, slow eccentric–concentric control improves muscle‐tendon compliance and afferent feedback, while breath-movement synchronization enhances cortical–motor integration (Wayne & Kaptchuk, 2008).
Mainstream Prescriptive Exercise - fight the decline why & what
Masters athletes face a trifecta of neuromuscular decline: atrophy of fast‐twitch fibers, slowed synaptic transmission and reduced tendon compliance. To combat these, two complementary exercise strategies can preserve rate of force development (RFD), agility and mobility.
Resistance and power training
Performed two to three times per week, centres on multi‐joint lifts—squats, lunges and deadlifts—executed at 70–85 % of one‐repetition maximum for three to five sets of three to eight repetitions. This high‐intensity approach stimulates muscle protein synthesis and satellite‐cell activity, counteracting the age‐related shrinkage of type II fibers mediated by declining anabolic hormones (Velloso 2008). By recruiting high‐threshold motor units at velocity, it also enhances neural drive and electromechanical coupling, offsetting slower synaptic transmission (Enoka & Duchateau 2016). Over a 12-week cycle, such programming typically yields a 5–10 % increase in muscle cross‐sectional area and a 15–20 % boost in RFD, translating to stronger accelerations, more forceful decelerations and crisper changes of direction (Fiatarone et al. 1990; Petrella et al. 2005). A practical demonstration tailored for masters athletes can be viewed in the
Sample full-body power workout
Plyometrics and reactive drills
We typically schedule these twice weekly, layering low-impact hops, drop jumps (30–40 cm) and partner-cue change-of-direction work using reaction balls. These exercises refine the stretch‐shortening cycle and heighten muscle‐spindle sensitivity, mitigating tendon stiffening and desensitisation of proprioceptive receptors (Ramasamy et al. 2023). Moreover, by challenging rapid on/off motor-unit recruitment, they accelerate force generation and improve neuromuscular responsiveness—addressing the central processing delays that slow reaction time (Seidler et al. 2010). Studies in older cohorts report 20–30 % faster ground-contact times and substantially improved agility, alongside a marked reduction in laboratory‐induced trip falls (Ramirez‐Camps et al. 2018; Karamanidis, Mademli & Arampatzis 2008). For a guided routine,
Sample Reactive Plyometric Drills
Together, these targeted interventions restore explosive strength and rapid deceleration capacity, underpinning both safe mobility and peak agility as athletes advance through the masters age groups.
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