President William Lai (賴清德) demonstrated post-Lunar New Year holiday home exercises along with Minister of Sports and Olympic gold medalist Lee Yang (李洋) in a video released by the Presidential Office yesterday.
Encouraging the public to stay healthy by exercising regularly, especially after enjoying big family meals during the holiday, Lai and Lee in the video demonstrated a few basic exercises that can be performed at home.
Wearing casual outfits for the workout, the pair started with a simple warmup, followed with movements focused on stretching, mobility, balance and core strength, such as a deep squat and single-leg stance, the video showed.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Lee gave instructions for each movement alongside the demonstration, and said the exercises feature movements that do not require much space, suitable for tight quarters such as home.
The exercises can help maintain mobility and can be performed with family, he said.
“This is ‘high intensity’ training. It is intense enough for me,” Lai said, while Lee expressed regret over the lack of weights during their exercise.
Lai said he invited Lee to make the video together as he guessed that people ate a lot during the holiday.
Lee encouraged people to build their health by following the video’s instructions to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
Lai said the Ministry of Sports was established primarily to promote “sports for all,” and that strength of the people is the strength of the nation.
The exercises allow people to work out at home, burning calories and staying energized as the new year begins, he said.
Separately, Da Chien General Hospital rehabilitation doctor Lee Ming-shan (李明珊) yesterday
encouraged people to stretch for five to 10 minutes during breaks at work to help lift the post-holiday blues.
People might have eaten lots of rich food while staying up binge-watching films or sitting for prolonged periods playing games during the holiday, she said.
Given the irregular sleep hours with reduced physical activity, excessive body fat builds up while muscles have been “on strike” for too long, Lee Ming-shan said.
Prolonged poor postures can lead to a sore neck or shoulder muscles and stiff lower back, she added.
She advised to relax stiff muscles and relieve fatigue by doing several stretching exercises targeting different body parts.
First, sit straight up while tucking in the chin toward the chest, with eyes staring at the floor, feeling tightness running in the back of the neck, she said, adding that this position aims at relaxing stiff neck and should be maintained for 15 to 30 seconds, for three to five repetitions.
Second, tilt the head to one side to bring the ear toward the shoulder while seated, with the hand on the other side holding the chair for stability, neck and shoulder muscles stretching to relax.
Third, clasp hands behind the back in a standing position and then straighten and slowly lift both arms, while both squeezing the shoulder blades together to stretch and open the chest.
Fourth, take a deep breath and then take a slow standing forward bend — with both arms dangling down and the body weight falling on balls of the feet — while exhaling to stretch and relax a stiff lower back.
Fifth, sit cross-legged with an ankle on the opposite knee and the upper body straightened, and then lean forward to relax muscles of the buttocks and thighs.
People are advised to do these stretching exercises while breathing smoothly, Lee Ming-shan said, adding the desired feeling is “tightness” in the stretched muscles rather than “pain.”
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