Getting older doesn’t mean you have to give up on staying strong, flexible, and active. There’s one simple move that can make a huge difference in your daily strength and mobility. Fitness coach Bruce Scott, with over three decades of experience in movement and Tai Chi, based in Sydney, Australia, shares in her October 2 Instagram post one such “life-changing exercise” that he has practised for 35 years. (Also read: Fitness coach says this simple ‘5-minute mobility routine’ can keep you feeling young and flexible after 30 )
What is the Qi Machine and how does it work
This exercise is the first ever exercise my first Tai Chi teacher taught me. And 35 years later, I’m still doing it and it’s still working for me,” Scott says. “It’ll be covered in much more detail in my upcoming online course. But for now, let’s see if we can find it and let you start exploring it.”
Known as the Qi Machine, Scott explains the fundamentals of the movement. “Feet shoulder-width apart. First, we want to find this double bounce in the knee. I’m dropping my weight through my knees and letting my elasticity catch me. Boom, boom, bum, bum, bum. Instead of squat, press, squat, press, see what that looks like, that’s very fatiguing. It uses a lot of muscle to do the movement. Here, I switch it so that it’s the fascia and the ligaments, tendons that act like rubber bands to turn the drop into an action potential that springs me back up. It becomes effortless. Bum, bum, or nearly effortless.”
How can this exercise benefit the whole body
The exercise is not just about the legs. Once the timing is right, Scott says it becomes a full-body movement. “Then I can bring arms into it. If I get the timing right, it becomes a whole-body exercise. Ankles, knees, hips, beautiful wave through the spine, beautiful big movement through the arms. The body starts to breathe the movement. There’s a natural inhalation, natural exhalation. You don’t need to think about it.”
Scott highlights the holistic benefits: “It circulates blood through the whole body, creates very little metabolic waste because we’re not using the muscle, we’re using the ligament. It opens the mind, balances the chakras. Beautiful.”
Simple yet profound, this exercise emphasises natural movement, elasticity, and harmony between mind and body. For those in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, Scott recommends incorporating it into daily routines to maintain mobility, circulation, and overall vitality.
Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.
