Background: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019, many people have had to reduce their outdoor activities. Therefore, a convenient, simple, at-home training method to improve or maintain cardiopulmonary function is required. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic effect of weight-bearing Liuzijue Qigong on cardiopulmonary function in healthy volunteers.Methods: This study was a longitudinal trial. The health participants completed a 4-week Liuzijue Qigong exercise with 0.25 kg sandbag wore on each wrist. Each training session took 30 minutes to complete 2 consecutive cycles, and 5 times a week. The cardiopulmonary function of participants was evaluated at baseline (T0) and the end of the intervention (T4). Outcomes measures were pulmonary function, diaphragm movement, and cardiac hemodynamic parameters. Paired t test was used to analyze differences within the group.Results: After 4 weeks of weight-bearing Liuzijue Qigong exercise intervention, the differences in the forced expiratory volume in the 1st second (P = .006), forced vital capacity rate of 1 second (P = .003), maximal mid-expiratory flow curve (P = .002), forced expiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity (P = .003), and maximum ventilatory volume (P < .001) of the participants were statistically significant. The diaphragmatic excursion (P = .009) under the calm breathing mode and the diaphragmatic contraction speed (P = .003) under the deep breathing mode improved significantly. The cardiac output (P = .04), cardiac index (P = .035), contractility index (P = .018), early diastolic filling ratio (P = .042), systemic vascular resistance index (P = .019), systemic vascular resistance (P = .017), and estimated ejection fraction (P = .016) of participants improved significantly in the resting stage. At the end stage of fast walking, that is, the sixth minute of six-minute walk test, the stroke volume index (P = .048), heart rate (P = .019), cardiac output (P = .008), cardiac index (P = .003), and left cardiac work index (P = .028) of participants were significantly increased compared with those before training, and the systemic vascular resistance index (P = .003) and systemic vascular resistance (P = .005) were decreased. Conclusion: Weight-bearing Liuzijue Qigong training significantly improved cardiopulmonary function in healthy volunteers, thus representing home-based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation training. Abbreviations: 6MWT = six-minute walk test, CI = cardiac index, CO = cardiac output, COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, CTI = contractility index, DCS = diaphragmatic contraction speed, DE = diaphragmatic excursion, EDFR = early diastolic filling ratio, EFest = estimated ejection fraction, FEF25% = forced expiratory flow at 25% of FVC, FEF50% = forced expiratory flow at 50% of FVC, FEF75% = forced expiratory flow at 75% of FVC, FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1st second, FVC = forced vital capacity, HR = heart rate, ICG = impedance cardiography, MMEF = maximal mid-expiratory flow ...
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