Development of a Runner Game to Promote Lower Limb Strength Training Among University Students

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Public Health
• Kinesiology and Exercise Science

Background:

• Locomotive syndrome (locomo) impairs mobility, increasing fall and nursing care risks.
• Early prevention is crucial for the younger generation to mitigate long-term mobility issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate novel training exercises and a game for preventing reduced mobility in university students.
• To enhance engagement in fall risk prevention through interactive visualization.

Main Methods:

• Developed two lower limb muscle strengthening exercises (squatting, single-leg standing).
• Created a running game where character abilities are influenced by exercise performance.
• Incorporated visualization of fall risk to increase player interest.

Main Results:

• The developed exercises target lower limb muscle strength in sedentary university students.
• The running game design showed that visualizing fall risk enhances user engagement.
• Preliminary findings suggest potential for behavior change interventions.

Conclusions:

• The study introduces an innovative approach to locomotive syndrome prevention in young adults.
• Combining physical exercises with gamification and risk visualization shows promise for promoting mobility and reducing fall risks.
• Future research will focus on behavior change experiments using the developed game and visualization tools.