The Sports Administration should abolish sit-ups at schools, citing concerns that the exercise can cause spinal injuries in some, New Power Party Taoyuan City councilor candidate Lu Yu-chen (呂宇晟) said yesterday.
In response, the Sports Administration said the exercise might be eliminated from physical education workouts and standardized tests later this year, adding that crunches would probably be used in its place.
Taiwanese are taught since childhood the misconception that sit-ups can train core strength, Lu said at a news conference.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Lu is a personal trainer and business founder.
Fast and repeated bending of the spinal column during sit-ups carries the risk of neck and tailbone injuries, while the workout’s benefits are dubious because it can compromises core balance, he said.
School-aged children lack muscle strength and balance, so they are prone to making mistakes when doing sit-ups that can result in significant pain and increased risk of injury, he said.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Studies have shown that children who do the exercise are more likely to have bruised tailbones, he said.
“Fast and repeated movements are always going to cause more injuries regardless of the thickness of the mat being used,” he said.
“If the child forgets to tuck in their chin, they can also get cervical spine damage,” he added.
“US marines dropped sit-ups from its physical fitness tests last year and replaced the exercise with planking, which the US military had been mulling since 2015,” he wrote on Facebook shortly after the conference.
The Sports Administration said in 2016 that sit-ups would be eliminated from physical education, shortly after Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital said that the workout could be harmful, Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said.
The agency is urged to speed up implementation of the proposed change and develop guidelines to minimize harm to children in the interim, she said.
The agency’s School Physical Education Division deputy chief Pan Wan-hsin (潘婉馨) said the agency would have begun making the change in 2020, but the plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
An amendment on regulations governing physical education at schools is being drafted specifically to address concerns about sit-ups and to make other changes, Pan said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS