Abstract
Yoga is a part of complementary and alternative medicine aimed at improving overall physical well-being. Yoga is a relatively new treatment approach often used in evidence-based exercise practice. It is known that aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, running, and cycling have beneficial effects on respiratory and cardiovascular systems. While yoga is not entirely an aerobic exercise, previous research justifies the benefits of yoga training on multiple systems of the human body. PURPOSE: Previous research has found a positive effect of Hatha Yoga practice on diseased populations. Minimal research supports the use of Hatha Yoga to increase makers of aerobic capacity in healthy individuals. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap in the literature and determine the effectiveness of prolonged Hatha Yoga training with reduced frequency per week. METHODS: Six sedentary participants (age = 32.67 ± 9.41 years, weight = 79.65 ± 14.85 kg, height = 1.65 ± 0.09 meters, BMI = 29.09 ± 4.74 kg*m-²) practiced Hatha Yoga for six weeks. The following baseline measurements were determined: resting heart rate (RHR, beats*min-1), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, L), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR, L*min-1), and resting metabolic rate (RMR, kcal*day-1). Each subject was tested at baseline, week 3, week 5, and week 7. Each subject practiced 45-minute yoga session per day for minimum 3 days of week. The amount of time spent doing yoga varied from week to week, with the weekly duration of yoga ranging from 220 to 315 minutes. A repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to determine potential differences amongst the variables over the six-week period. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in RHR (p = 0.008) from baseline (85 ± 2.83 beats*min-1) to week 7 (76.17 ± 5.08 beats*min-1) and in FEV1 (p = 0.018) from baseline (2.03 ± 0.27 L) to week 5 (2.52 ± 0.24 L). There were no significant differences in other variables in multiple comparisons across weeks. CONCLUSION: Results of this experimental study indicate that prolonged Hatha Yoga practice with less frequency per week did not significantly change BMI, PEFR, and RMR values from baseline. However, it improved FEV1 and decreased RHR in sedentary individuals. Previous research has found 130 to 180 minutes per week of Hatha Yoga practice helped to improve FEV1, PEFR, RMR, BMI, and RHR in individuals with chronic disease, but our findings in sedentary individuals only found improvements in RHR and FEV1.
Recommended Citation
Kher, Jaykuvarba D.; Crossland, Brett W.; Wyatt, Dr. Frank B.; and Desai, Khushbu M.
(2025)
"The Effect of 6-Weeks of Yoga Training on Measures of Health & Performance in Sedentary Individuals,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2:
Iss.
17, Article 167.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss17/167
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Medical Education Commons, Sports Sciences Commons