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.
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