Effects of Hatha Yoga Practice on the Health‐Related Aspects of Physical Fitness

Tran, Mark D.; Holly, R. G.; Lashbrook, Jake; Amsterdam, Ezra A.

doi:10.1111/j.1520-037x.2001.00542.x

Cited by 248 publications

(186 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The largest number (74.0 percent) practiced yoga for general fitness which is in accordance with results of surveys carried out in other countries 6,11 , as well as reports that yoga improves physical fitness 16 . Other yoga users chose to practice yoga for the psychological benefits, which is again comparable to the results of surveys in the U. S. 6,11 as well as multiple reports that yoga increases psychological well-being.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Beliefs About Yoga: A Survey in Mumbai

Tiwari¹,

Telles²,

Goel³

et al. 2015

J Biol Sci Opin

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Surveys about the beliefs and characteristics of yoga practitioners have been carried out in North America, Europe and Australia. To our knowledge no such survey has been carried out in India. 972 participants who returned correctly filled survey forms were included in the survey. They were recruited in the campus of Mumbai University; the average age was 26 years; and male: female ratio was 54.8:45.2. The survey was administered to persons encountered by the experimenter which comprised mainly students (28.9 percent) but other persons (<30 years of age; 73.4 percent) as well. It was not a systematic randomized sampling. The survey had 8 questions, which either required dichotomous (yes/no) responses or selection of one of many options. Results showed that 54.7 % participants practiced yoga whereas 45.3% did not practiced yoga. Among those who did not practice the majority (73.4 percent) was young (<30 years old); 45.2 percent were female and most had at least 15 years of education. 74.0 percent practiced yoga for general fitness; and continued practice for stress reduction, 21.0 percent had a difficulty in finding time for yoga practice, 57.0 percent considered that yoga meant mainly pranayamas while 16.0 percent each believed yoga meant meditation or asanas, and 83.0 percent did not associate yoga with religion. Chi square tests assessed whether the 6 levels of duration of practice or age significantly impacted the reasons for (i) starting yoga practice and (ii) continuing it. This preliminary survey showed certain common features as well as differences in this population in India.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Beliefs About Yoga: A Survey in Mumbai

Tiwari¹,

Telles²,

Goel³

et al. 2015

J Biol Sci Opin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most studies carried out so far included individuals who were sedentary; therefore, the efficiency of their cardiovascular and pulmonary systems was low or average, and the improvement of those parameters after the yoga intervention can be significant. Several studies indicated that yoga training improved cardiorespiratory fitness [13,33,34].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hatha Yoga as a Form of Physical Activity in the Context of Lifestyle Disease Prevention

Grabara

2017

Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism

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Physical activity is interrelated with health, physical fitness, and quality of life. The role physical activity plays in the context of lifestyle disease prevention is indisputable. Physical exercises of yoga (hatha yoga) are a type of recreational physical activity classified as a form of body and mind fitness. Hatha yoga training consists of slow or fast and smooth entering into, holding, and exiting yoga postures called "asanas". Besides asanas, a yoga class may also include breathing exercises (pranayama) and relaxation exercises. The aim of this paper is to analyse the benefits of regular hatha yoga training in the light of scientific studies in regard to primary and secondary prevention of lifestyle diseases (cardiovascular diseases, respiratory system diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system in particular). The results of the analysis revealed that regular hatha yoga training including pranayama (breathing exercises) produced a reduction in blood pressure and heart rate, improved respiratory functions, decreased blood glucose levels and body mass, as well as improving functional fitness and self-perceived quality of life. Therefore, hatha yoga as a form of physical activity can be a useful intervention for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory system diseases, metabolic diseases, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system, including back pain.

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“…In addition, there are other studies that have shown benefits of yoga practice for cardiopulmonary endurance in healthy people (Birkel & Edgren, 2000;Ray, Mukhopadhyaya, Purkayastha et al, 2001;Tran, Holly, Lashbrook, & Amsterdam, 2001). The rationale hypothesis to the cardiorespiratory improvement associated with yoga training is an expected physiological adaptation related to an increased oxygen delivery, decreased oxygen consumption and respiration rate, and decreased resting heart rate for a same effort level, resulting in improved exercise capacity (Raub, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a 12-Week Systematized Yoga Intervention on Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Adults

Shiraishi¹,

Gadelha²,

Bezerra³

et al. 2017

APE

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Regular physical activity has been shown to improve overall physical fitness. The long-term adherence to physical activity is a big challenge for health maintenance; so, pleasure activities, as Hatha Yoga (yoga), may represent a good alternative on both individual and public contexts. Yoga is an ancient activity designated to both health and unhealthy individuals. It integrates physical, mental, and spiritual components and may improve aspects of health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a 12-week systematized yoga intervention on health-related physical fitness components assessed by body mass, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), relative body fat, abdominal endurance, upper body endurance, hamstring flexibility, and cardiorespiratory fitness. The study was performed at University of Brasília, Faculty of Physical Education, Distrito Federal, Brazil. Twenty-five young healthy yoga novices (22.36 ± 2.40 years), both gender, volunteered to participate in this study. The intervention was based on 50 minutes yoga class, twice a week for 12 weeks, involving physical poses, meditation, and relaxation. Measurements were performed one week prior to and one week after the yoga intervention. Collecting data included age, gender, height, body mass, body fat estimates and physical fitness tests. Body fat percentage was determinated by the measure of skinfolds at seven sites. Muscle strength/endurance was evaluated by push-up and sit-up tests. Hamstring flexibility was assessed using sit-and-reach test protocol. The 12-minutes Cooper test was performed to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness. Participants that attended at least 75% of the total sessions were included in the study results. The results showed 1.3 (1.0 -4.0) cm decrease in WC and 0.7 (0.9 -1.5) decrease in body fat percentage, and 7.8 (2.0 -5.0) cm increase in hamstring flexibility and 3.0 (1.0 -4.0) in abdominal endurance, after the yoga intervention (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the present study found that a 12-week yoga program improved physical fitHow to cite this paper: Shiraishi,

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Effects of Hatha Yoga Practice on the Health‐Related Aspects of Physical Fitness

Cited by 248 publications

References 13 publications

Beliefs About Yoga: A Survey in Mumbai

Beliefs About Yoga: A Survey in Mumbai

Hatha Yoga as a Form of Physical Activity in the Context of Lifestyle Disease Prevention

Effects of a 12-Week Systematized Yoga Intervention on Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Adults

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