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Researcher offers fitness tips to China
A University of the Sunshine Coast researcher and sports coach is helping China tackle health and fitness issues linked to growing wealth and western culture.
Dr Mark McKean has been invited to present at the 2010 Fitness China Convention in Beijing from 23-25 July.
Dr McKean, a Post Doctoral Research Fellow heading USC’s innovative Australian Institute of Fitness Research, said it was the fourth time he had been invited to present his findings to the Chinese fitness industry.
“With over a quarter of the world’s population, China knows it can’t afford to succumb to western health epidemics such as obesity or musculoskeletal disease,” he said.
“My lectures will relate to postural fitness and movement training, and how to link these with group exercise traditions such as outdoor tai chi.”
USC’s Dr McKean is the only Australian co-author of an upcoming new textbook on posture and movement specifically for Chinese fitness instructors.
“We’re also in discussion about joint research between the two countries, such as comparing common Aussie and Chinese postures,” he said.
Dr McKean expected the conference to be an interesting cultural experience, considering that most delegates did not speak English and required translations.
“The convention attracts instructors from all over Asia and presenters from all over the world,” he said.
“It’s an amazing event that attracts TV coverage. A previous ‘opening ceremony’ featured the world’s largest spin cycling class in the square at 36 degrees Celsius.”
Dr McKean, a Coast physiologist of 20 years, helped found the institute at USC last November with a $210,000 grant over three years from the Australian Institute of Fitness.
– Julie Gatehouse