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UPPER BODY AND TRUNK MUSCULOSKELETAL ADAPTATIONS FOLLOWING 8 WEEKS OF YOGA IN HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

Stephanie A. Sontag1, Allen L. Redinger1, Lyric D. Richardson1, Alex A. Olmos1, Brenden Roth1, Sunggun Jeon2, Breanne S. Baker1, & Michael A. Trevino1

1Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma; 2Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of short-term Hatha Vinyasa yoga on musculoskeletal adaptations of the upper body and trunk in healthy adults. METHODS: Twenty-five healthy adults (X̅ ± SD; Yoga: N = 13, age = 23 ± 4 yrs, body mass = 78.4 ± 15.2 kg; Con: N = 12, age = 23 ± 5 yrs, body mass = 77.2 ± 17.6 kg) volunteered for this study. Pre and Post 8 weeks of the yoga (2, 1-hour classes/week) or control (Con) period of activity maintenance, participants performed the ACSM pushup test and Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) measured right arm bone mineral content (BMC) and trunk lean mass (LM). Repeated measures ANOVAs (2x2; group x time) were used for analyses. When appropriate, follow-up analyses included paired and independent samples t-tests with Bonferroni corrections. Effect sizes were reported as partial eta squared (ηp2) and Cohen’s d. Alpha was set at 0.05. RESULTS: There was an interaction for right arm BMC (p = 0.047, ηp2 = 0.16). The yoga group improved from Pre to Post (200.5 ± 37.9 to 204.7 ± 39.6 g; p = 0.049, d = 0.11), but not the Con group (199.0 ± 50.0 to 198.0 ± 49.5 g; p = 0.527, d = -0.02). There was an interaction for trunk LM (p = 0.001, d = 0.37). The yoga group improved from Pre to Post (27.5 ± 5.7 to 28.2 ± 5.8 kg; p = 0.001, d = 0.13), but not the Con group (28.2 ± 7.3 to 27.9 ± 7.1 kg; p = 0.213, d = -0.04). For the ACSM pushup test, there was no significant interaction (p = 0.077), but there was a medium effect size (ηp2 = 0.13). There was no group effect (p = 0.452), but there was a time effect (Pre = 23.6 ± 13.9 reps, Post = 26.8 ± 11.4 reps; p = 0.012, ηp2 = 0.25). Although there was no group effect, the effect size was moderate for the Yoga group from Pre to Post (20.8 ± 13.4 to 25.9 ± 10.5 reps; d = 0.43), but trivial for the Con group (26.7 ± 14.4 to 27.7 ± 12.6 reps; d = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Positive musculoskeletal improvements, such as improved right arm BMC and increased trunk lean mass, were observed in healthy adults following a short 8-week Hatha Vinyasa yoga intervention that incorporated repeated upper body loading and controlled dynamic movements with isometric postures that required trunk stability. Although groups were not different at post testing for the ACSM pushup test, the larger effect sizes for the yoga group compared to the CON group may suggest Hatha Vinyasa yoga practice has the ability to improve upper body physical performance.

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