Yoga Medical News Daily

A 12-week Pilates program increases abdominal endurance, flexibility and more

 A forthcoming study by J.A. Kloubec to be published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research describes a 12-week study to determine the effects of a Pilates exercise program on abdominal endurance, hamstring flexibility, upper-body muscular endurance, posture, and balance. Fifty healthy male and female volunteers were divided into a control and a Pilates group. Participants were asked to have "no prior substantive Pilates experience."

Meeting for one hour, twice a week, the Pilates group participated in a basic mat routine consisting of approximately 25 separate exercises focusing on muscular endurance and flexibility of the abdomen, low back, and hips.

At the end of 12 weeks, the Pilates group showed, as compared to the control group, "statistically significant increases in abdominal endurance, hamstring flexibility, and upper-body muscular endurance. Participants did not demonstrate improvements in either posture or balance when compared with the control group." The study clearly demonstrated that "individuals can improve their muscular endurance and flexibility using relatively low-intensity Pilates exercises that do not require equipment or a high degree of skill and are easy to master and use within a personal fitness routine."  

The study suggests that more studies similar to this one might provide a better understanding of ways to improve overall athletic performance, as well as benefit those suffering from low back pain and spinal structural problems. Abstract for "Pilates for Improvement of Muscle Endurance, Flexibility, Balance, and Posture" at: PubMed.  Photo by khatawat. 

A comparison of flexibility after a single-bout of Ashtanga and Bikram Yoga

This M.S. thesis by Samatha Gallo, California State University, Fullerton (December 2009), points out that "There is very little research on yoga and nothing on the differences between styles, particularly Ashtanga and Bikram yoga. The purpose of this study was to compare flexibility after a single session of Bikram and Ashtanga yoga. Sixteen subjects (5 men, 11 women) with at least 6 months yoga experience were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The groups completed one session of Bikram and another of Ashtanga Yoga with a reversed order design separated by one week between yoga sessions. . . . Ashtanga and Bikram yoga were equally effective in producing trunk flexion flexibility. Right shoulder flexibility was greater due to the yoga treatment but style differences were measurement error. The heat generated through both styles had been enough to increase muscle flexibility in different areas of the body for this study. "  Abstract:  UMI ProQuest Dissertations & Theses with link to full pdf version (fee).  

Poor trunk flexibility is associated with arterial stiffening

This article in American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2009, October; 297(4): H1314-8), by Kenta Yamamoto, Hiroshi Kawano, Yuko Gando, Mitsuru Higuchi, Motoyuki Iemitsu, Haruka Murakami, Michiya Tanimoto, Yumi Ohmori, Izumi Tabata, Motohiko Miyachi, and Kiyoshi Sanada, points out that "Flexibility is one of the components of physical fitness as well as cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength and endurance. Flexibility has long been considered a major component in the preventive treatment of musculotendinous strains. . . . Using a cross-sectional study design, we tested the hypothesis that a less flexible body would have arterial stiffening. A total of 526 adults, 20 to 39 yr of age (young), 40 to 59 yr of age (middle-aged), and 60 to 83 yr of age (older), participated in this study. Subjects in each age category were divided into either poor- or high-flexibility groups on the basis of a sit-and-reach test. Arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). . . . In young subjects, there was no significant difference between the two flexibility groups. A stepwise multiple-regression analysis (n = 316) revealed that among the components of fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility) and age, all components and age were independent correlates of baPWV. These findings suggest that flexibility may be a predictor of arterial stiffening, independent of other components of fitness." [The following is a quote from text of article] " . . . we believe that flexibility exercise such as stretching, yoga and pilates would be integrated as new recommendation into the known cardiovascular benefit of regular exercise. However, although the present results are the first to provide evidence demonstrating that poor flexibility is associated with greater age-related arterial stiffening, the present cross-sectional study provided only associations among age, flexibility, and arterial stiffness. Intervention study is also needed to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between flexibility and arterial stiffness." See also news release from the American Physiological Society: A Simple Way for Middle Aged and Older Adults to Assess How Stiff their Arteries Are: Reach for Their Toes.  Abstract: PubMed.

On October 22, YMN Daily contacted Dr. Kenta Yamamoto, who generously agreed to offer some additional insights:

"I think that autonomic nerves system is key point of mechanisms responsible for the relationship between flexibility and arterial stiffness.

I have a hypothesis that stretching exercise would change autonomic nerves system toward relaxing, resulting in a decrease in arterial stiffness.

If that is true, yoga also will contribute to reducing age-related arterial stiffening.

We are doing a stretching intervention study now."

- Kenta Yamamoto

Effects of selected asanas in hatha yoga on agility and flexibility level

Thirty male students ranging in age from 18-25 were involved in this study in which members of the control group were subjected to a six-week yoga asanas training program. The conclusions, published in Citius Altius Fortius: Journal of Physical Education and Sport (2009; vol. 23, issue 2, pp. 116-124), showed that the control group had significant improvement in flexibility and agility. Abstract. Full text.

Benefits of yoga for heart failure patients

This doctoral dissertation completed in 2009 by Paula Rei Pullen, Georgia State University, examined the "effects of yoga on cardio-vascular endurance [functional capacity (FC)], flexibility, inflammatory markers, and quality of life (QoL) on medically stable HF patients."  Conclusions: "Yoga therapy offered additional benefits to the standard medical care of HF patients by improving QoL, exercise capacity, FLEX, and biomarkers of inflammation." A PDF version of the dissertation available for download at the Georgia State University site.   

Effect of yoga on professional computer users

This study out of Bangalore, India, describes the assessment of professional computer users.  The Yoga Group did yoga 60 minutes daily for 5 days a week for 60 days and the Wait-List Group did their usual recreational activities (unspecified).  At the end of 60 days, the Yoga Group showed a significant decrease in the frequency, intensity and degree of interference due to musculoskeletal discomfort, an increase in bilateral hand grip strength, the right hand tapping speed, and low back and hamstring flexibility.  For details see the abstract at:  PubMed