Abstract
Gymnastics is widely popular as an exercise for health promotion and physical fitness improvement, particularly among older adults. Providing feedback to practitioners on movement quality and posture can enhance the benefits of gymnastics on physical and mental health. However, objective evaluation methods have not yet been developed. We aimed to gain insight into developing a practical evaluation system applicable to gymnastics practice settings using a markerless motion capture system. Twenty-four community-dwelling older adults performed a trunk rotation (twisting) exercise. We explored the kinematic parameters that predict observational assessments by exercise instructors related to trunk twisting, vertical trunk posture, and muscle relaxation involving minimal muscle tension. The results demonstrated that the explored kinematic parameters could accurately predict the observational assessment of trunk twisting and muscle relaxation. These findings can boost motivation for gymnastics practice and support physical and mental health promotion through the development of a motion capture-based evaluation and feedback system.
