CCTV News: The General Office of the General Administration of Sports of China recently issued the "Guidelines for Fitness Equipment Configuration for the Elderly (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines (Trial)"), taking a solid step in serving the elderly's fitness group, improving and building a higher level of public fitness service system for the whole nation, and actively responding to population aging.

The "Guidelines (Trial)" focuses on functional training such as cardiopulmonary, strength, balance, rhythm training and flexible stretching. It puts forward specific aging-friendly requirements for the elderly on outdoor fitness equipment and indoor fitness equipment, and guides localities to configure fitness equipment suitable for the elderly to better meet the fitness needs of the elderly. It is also clear that the "Guidelines (Trial)" is suitable for guiding the configuration of fitness equipment for the elderly in public places such as communities, sports and health homes for the elderly, community sports and health centers, national fitness centers, sports parks, activity centers for the elderly, nursing homes, etc. The equipment configured is suitable for people over 60 years old, with independent behavioral abilities, and suitable for sports and fitness.

According to the "Guidelines (Trial)", outdoor fitness equipment for the elderly is divided into heart and lungs, strength, balance, hand-brain coordination, massage, traction, and leisure and educational categories according to their functions; indoor fitness equipment for the elderly is divided into heart and lungs, strength, rhythm training and flexible stretching according to their functions. Equipment should be combined with the physical characteristics of the elderly, with the characteristics of light exercise, easy operation, appropriate load, and timely suspension of exercise. Equipment safety risks, mechanical safety risks, electrical safety risks, and operation and management safety should be fully evaluated to avoid sports injuries caused by the elderly during physical exercise.

According to the "Guidelines (Trial)", equipment configuration should follow the principles of diversification, and should fully consider the basic needs of physical exercise for the elderly. According to the health level and exercise ability of the elderly, the system will be equipped with cardiopulmonary, strength, rhythm training, balance, flexible stretching, leisure and educational, massage and other equipment, so that the elderly can improve their physical fitness through all-round exercise. We must highlight the principles of effectiveness, interaction and standardization. The elderly can improve their physical function level, physical fitness level and quality of life by using equipment. They should meet the needs of multiple people to participate and communicate interactively, stimulate the enthusiasm of the elderly to actively participate in physical exercise, and comply with relevant laws, regulations, national standards, and industry standards.

The "Guidelines (Trial)" proposes that equipment should adopt convenient and modular design to improve the versatility of product parts, reduce product maintenance costs, and improve maintenance and management convenience. Conspicuous signboards should be equipped with concise and clear contents, and easy to understand by the elderly. If it cannot be configured on the equipment, it can be configured separately next to the equipment. The warnings in the sign should be combined with the equipment exercise function to remind the elderly to exercise scientifically and reasonably based on their physical health.

Relevant person in charge of the Group Department of the General Administration of Sports of China said that population aging is an important trend in my country's social development. We hope that through the formulation and release of the "Guidelines (Trial)" to help develop the sports cause of the elderly, provide more suitable venue facilities and fitness equipment according to the characteristics and needs of the elderly, continuously expand the space for the elderly to participate in fitness activities, safeguard and protect the sports and health rights of the elderly, and make greater contributions to the elderly's work in the new era and the sports work of the elderly.