Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of rowing exercise (Rex) as an exercise to continue in daily life for elderly people with knee pains. Two voluntary women with knee pains whose ages were 83 and 84 participated in this study. The exercise was carried out by a rowing ergometer. Subjects performed 20-minute exercise program (10 minutes × 2 sets) from twice to four times a week in one month. The exercise intensity was set at moderate level or less, then RPE was 6 to 13. Subjects were measured physical fitness (grip strength, timed up & go test, timed 5-meter walking test) and investigated the perceptional feeling against exercise load by questionnaire. One subject showed increase on distance and intensity of Rex as training effect, and the other showed decrease of them. There was not a remarkable change in physical fitness of the subjects. Two subjects answered in the questionnaire that their knee pains had improved, and also one of them gave an answer about the improvement in the motion of knee-joint bending and extension. It was suggested that Rex might be beneficial as an exercise of elderly people with knee pains in daily life.
