(From left) Dr. Wendy Huang, Dr. Lobo Louie, Dr. Kevin Yue, Dr. Gabriel Leung,
Prof. Alexander Wai, Prof. Frank Fu, Prof. Chow Bik Chu and
Prof. Cheung Siu Yin

The Dr. Stephen Hui Research Centre for Physical Recreation and Wellness (CPRW) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), with funding from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (the Trust), has launched a three-year “Jockey Club Mus-Fit for Health Project” (Mus-Health), which will design a series of exercises to train the muscle strength, endurance, balance and flexibility of 5,000 elderly people. The project will also help them develop regular exercise habits for staying healthy and active.

The launching ceremony of the project was held at HKBU on 1 August. It was officiated by Dr. Gabriel Leung, GBS, JP, Executive Director, Charities and Community of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, and Professor Alexander Wai, JP, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU. Other guests included Professor Frank Fu Hoo Kin, BBS, MH, JP, Emeritus Professor and Honorary Director of CPRW; Professor Chow Bik Chu, Director of CPRW; Dr. Wendy Huang Yajun, Associate Director of CPRW; Professor Cheung Siu Yin, Emeritus Professor and former Associate Director of CPRW; Dr. Kevin Yue Kin Man, Associate Professor, Teaching and Research Division of the School of Chinese Medicine at HKBU; and Dr. Lobo Louie Hung Tak, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Health and Physical Education at the Education University of Hong Kong.

In his speech, Dr. Gabriel Leung said that a healthy community, positive ageing and elderly care are the focus areas of the Trust. He added that the Trust promotes healthy communities and encourages elderly people to develop the habit of doing regular exercise through supportive preventive services. He also mentioned that Mus-Health encourages older adults to strengthen muscles through exercise. Elderly people have reduced their outdoor activities during the pandemic, which has led to the loss of muscle mass. Therefore, activities from the Mus-Health are conducive to slowing down the decline of the elderly’s functional fitness and they also help them maintain health.

Professor Chow Bik Chu expressed her gratitude to the cooperative organisation for their support, which helped make the launch of Mus-Health go smoothly. “Through training ambassadors and health leaders, Mus-Health will encourage elderly people to exercise to increase muscle mass and promote a healthy lifestyle. The project will also increase the exercise and health knowledge of the public through diversified activities, and we will join hands with various sectors to build a healthy society,” she said.

The project has recruited 99 ambassadors who are aged 50 to 69, and they have completed the training offered by the Jockey Club Mus-Fit Action project, which was inaugurated in 2019. The ambassadors will provide exercise training on muscular strength, balance and flexibility to the Mus-Health participants aged 50 to 70. The training programme will include online and offline lessons, which will last for 12 weeks, with one lesson per week.

When the participants have finished the lessons, they will train by themselves for three months and report regularly on their progress. The Mus-Health team will assess their health condition and train youngsters as health leaders to follow up on the progress of the participants. After completing the programme, the participants can become health leaders to deliver messages related to exercise and health to their peers.

Please browse the Facebook Page (mushealth.hkbu) or the webpage to be launched in mid-September for more information about Mus-Health.