1 1263 127 FLEXIBILITY OF THE ELDERLY AFTER ONE-YEAR PRACTICE OF YOGA AND CALISTHENICS. FLEXIBILITY TRAINING RESPONSES TO DISTINCT STRETCHING TECHNIQUES ARE NOT WELL DEFINED, ESPECIALLY IN THE ELDERLY. THIS STUDY COMPARED THE FLEXIBILITY OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS BEFORE AND AFTER HAVING PRACTICED HATHA YOGA AND CALISTHENICS FOR 1 YEAR (52 WEEKS), AT LEAST 3 TIMES/WEEK. SIXTY-SIX SUBJECTS (12 MEN) MEASURED AND ASSIGNED TO 3 GROUPS: CONTROL (N = 24, AGE = 67.7+/-6.9 YEARS), HATHA YOGA (N = 22, AGE = 61.2+/-4.8 YEARS), AND CALISTHENICS (N = 20, AGE = 69.0+/-5.8 YEARS). THE MAXIMAL RANGE OF PASSIVE MOTION OF 13 MOVEMENTS IN 7 JOINTS WAS ASSESSED BY THE FLEXITEST, COMPARING THE RANGE OBTAINED WITH STANDARD CHARTS REPRESENTING EACH ARC OF MOVEMENT ON A DISCONTINUOUS AND NON-DIMENSIONAL SCALE FROM 0 TO 4. RESULTS OF INDIVIDUAL MOVEMENTS WERE SUMMED TO DEFINE 4 INDEXES (ANKLE+KNEE, HIP+TRUNK, WRIST+ELBOW, AND SHOULDER) AND TOTAL FLEXIBILITY (FLEXINDEX). RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INCREASES OF TOTAL FLEXIBILITY IN THE HATHA YOGA GROUP (BY 22.5 POINTS) AND THE CALISTHENICS GROUP (BY 5.8 POINTS) (P < 0.01 FOR EACH) AND A DECREASE IN THE CONTROL GROUP (BY 2.1 POINTS) (P < 0.01) AFTER ONE YEAR OF INTERVENTION. BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISON SHOWED THAT INCREASES IN THE HATHA YOGA GROUP WERE GREATER THAN IN THE CALISTHENICS GROUP FOR MOST FLEXIBILITY INDEXES, PARTICULARLY THE OVERALL FLEXIBILITY (P <0.05). IN CONCLUSION, THE PRACTICE OF HATHA YOGA (I.E., SLOW/PASSIVE MOVEMENTS) WAS MORE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING FLEXIBILITY COMPARED TO CALISTHENICS (I.E., FAST/DYNAMIC MOVEMENTS), BUT CALISTHENICS WAS ABLE TO PREVENT FLEXIBILITY LOSSES OBSERVED IN SEDENTARY ELDERLY SUBJECTS. 2014 2 2833 38 YOGA'S EFFECT ON FALLS IN RURAL, OLDER ADULTS. BACKGROUND: UNINTENTIONAL FALLS AFFECT 30% OF PEOPLE OVER AGE 65 YEARS. YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE BALANCE. WE DESIGNED THIS STUDY TO EXAMINE IF YOGA REDUCES FALLS. METHODS: WE CONDUCTED 16 SESSIONS OF HATHA YOGA OVER 8 WEEKS. PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO PRACTICE 10MIN OF YOGA DAILY AT HOME IN ADDITION TO 5-MIN RELAXATION EXERCISES OR RELAXATION EXERCISES ONLY (CONTROL GROUP). RESULTS: OF THE 38 PARTICIPANTS COMPLETING THE INTERVENTION, 15 PARTICIPANTS REPORTED A TOTAL OF 27 FALLS IN THE 6-MONTHS BEFORE THE STUDY, COMPARED TO 13 PARTICIPANTS SUSTAINING 14 FALLS IN THE 6 MONTHS FROM THE START OF THE STUDY (P<0.047), WITHOUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOGA HOME-EXERCISE AND HOME RELAXATION-ONLY GROUPS. COMPARED TO BASELINE SCORES, ALL PARTICIPANTS IMPROVED ON THE BERG BALANCE SCALE (53-54 OUT OF 56, P=0.002), THE FUNCTIONAL GAIT ASSESSMENT (22.9-25.8 OUT OF 30 POINTS, P<0.001), AND THE DYNAMIC GAIT INDEX (20.6-22.4 OUT OF 24 POINTS, P<0.001). RIGHT LEG STAND TIME IMPROVED FROM A MEAN OF 13.3S TO 17.1S (P=0.020) AND STANDING FORWARD REACH DISTANCE FROM 26.0CM TO 29.6CM (P<0.001). WITHOUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS. CONFIDENCE, WITH THE ACTIVITIES-SPECIFIC BALANCE CONFIDENCE SCALE, INCREASED IN THE YOGA HOME-EXERCISE GROUP (88%-93%, P=0.037) COMPARED TO 90% UNCHANGED FROM PRE-INTERVENTION IN THE HOME RELAXATION-ONLY GROUP. CONCLUSION: YOGA CLASSES REDUCE SELF-REPORTED FALLS AND IMPROVE BALANCE MEASURES. THE ADDITION OF HOME YOGA EXERCISES DID NOT ENHANCE BENEFIT OVER RELAXATION EXERCISE ONLY. 2017 3 404 35 BIKRAM YOGA TRAINING AND PHYSICAL FITNESS IN HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS. THERE HAS BEEN RELATIVELY LITTLE LONGITUDINAL CONTROLLED INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON GENERAL PHYSICAL FITNESS, DESPITE THE WIDESPREAD PARTICIPATION IN THIS FORM OF EXERCISE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS EXPLORATORY STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF SHORT-TERM BIKRAM YOGA TRAINING ON GENERAL PHYSICAL FITNESS. YOUNG HEALTHY ADULTS WERE RANDOMIZED TO YOGA TRAINING (N = 10, 29 +/- 6 YEARS, 24 SESSIONS IN 8 WEEKS) OR A CONTROL GROUP (N = 11, 26 +/- 7 YEARS). EACH YOGA TRAINING SESSION CONSISTED OF 90-MINUTE STANDARDIZED SUPERVISED POSTURES PERFORMED IN A HEATED AND HUMIDIFIED STUDIO. ISOMETRIC DEADLIFT STRENGTH, HANDGRIP STRENGTH, LOWER BACK/HAMSTRING AND SHOULDER FLEXIBILITY, RESTING HEART RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE, MAXIMAL OXYGEN CONSUMPTION (TREADMILL), AND LEAN AND FAT MASS (DUAL-ENERGY X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY) WERE MEASURED BEFORE AND AFTER TRAINING. YOGA SUBJECTS EXHIBITED INCREASED DEADLIFT STRENGTH, SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASED LOWER BACK/HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY, INCREASED SHOULDER FLEXIBILITY, AND MODESTLY DECREASED BODY FAT COMPARED WITH CONTROL GROUP. THERE WERE NO CHANGES IN HANDGRIP STRENGTH, CARDIOVASCULAR MEASURES, OR MAXIMAL AEROBIC FITNESS. IN SUMMARY, THIS SHORT-TERM YOGA TRAINING PROTOCOL PRODUCED BENEFICIAL CHANGES IN MUSCULOSKELETAL FITNESS THAT WERE SPECIFIC TO THE TRAINING STIMULUS. 2013 4 1301 34 HATHA YOGA ON BODY BALANCE. BACKGROUND: A GOOD BODY BALANCE REQUIRES A PROPER FUNCTION OF VESTIBULAR, VISUAL, AND SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEMS WHICH CAN BE REACH WITH EXERCISE PRACTICE AND/OR YOGA. AIM: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF A 5-MONTH HATHA YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM ON BODY BALANCE IN YOUNG ADULTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS STUDY USED A CONTROLLED, NONRANDOMIZED DESIGN, WHERE THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP UNDERWENT A 5-MONTH TRAINING PROGRAM AND WERE THEN COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP THAT HAD A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE. A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE OF 34 OUT OF 40 MEN AGED 25-55 YEARS OLD (34.0 +/- 0.9) WERE DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR THIS STUDY. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS. SUBJECTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WERE ENGAGED IN 60 MIN SESSIONS OF HATHA YOGA THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR 5 MONTHS. WE EVALUATED POSTURAL CONTROL BY MEASURING THE LIMIT OF STABILITY AND VELOCITY OF OSCILLATION (VOS) IN THREE CONDITIONS OF THE BALANCE REHABILITATION UNIT (BRU) AND THROUGH FIELD PROCEDURES (FOUR POSITION, PLANE, FLAMINGO, HOPSCOTCH, AND DYNAMIC TEST). RESULTS: WE OBSERVED DIFFERENCES (P < 0.05) IN POSTINTERVENTION SCORES BETWEEN THE GROUPS REGARDLESS OF BRU PARAMETERS AND FIELD PROCEDURES (EXCEPT FOR FLAMINGO) EVEN AFTER ADJUSTING FOR PREINTERVENTION SCORES, SUGGESTING THAT THESE CHANGES WERE INDUCED BY HATHA YOGA TRAINING. THE PARTIAL ETA SQUARED ON BRU PARAMETERS RANGED FROM 0.78 (VOS1)-0.97 (COP2), AND FROM 0.00 (FLAMINGO)-0.94 (FOUR POSITION) FOR THE FIELD PROCEDURES. CONCLUSIONS: OUR RESULTS PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT POSTURAL CONTROL IN HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS CAN BE IMPROVED THROUGH PRACTICING HATHA YOGA. 2014 5 2152 31 THE EFFECTS OF SELECTED ASANAS IN IYENGAR YOGA ON FLEXIBILITY: PILOT STUDY. IN RECENT YEARS THE PRACTICE OF YOGA HAS GAINED POPULARITY AS A FORM OF PHYSICAL FITNESS AND EXERCISE, AND HAS BEEN SAID TO IMPROVE STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF A SIX WEEK IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION ON FLEXIBILITY. N = 16 LOW TO MODERATELY ACTIVE FEMALES (52.37 +/- 7.79 YEARS) ATTENDED IYENGAR YOGA PRACTICE FOR A TOTAL OF 6 WEEKS, CONSISTING OF ONE 90 MIN SESSION PER WEEK. LUMBAR AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY WERE ASSESSED PRE AND POST-INTERVENTION USING A STANDARD SIT AND REACH TEST. THE RESULTS SHOW A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN FLEXIBILITY, INDICATING 6 WEEKS OF SINGLE SESSION YOGA TRAINING MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN INCREASING ERECTOR SPINAE AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY. THIS IS IMPORTANT WHEN CONSIDERING THAT MUCH OF THE POPULATION FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ATTEND MORE THAN ONE SESSION A WEEK INTO THEIR TRAINING SCHEDULE. 2014 6 1095 30 EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE ON MUSCULAR ENDURANCE IN YOUNG WOMEN. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO VERIFY THE EFFECTS OF A SYSTEMATIZED YOGA PRACTICE ON MUSCULAR ENDURANCE IN YOUNG WOMEN. TWENTY SIX WOMEN (24 +/- 3.5 YEARS OLD) PARTICIPATED IN SIX WEEKS OF YOGA CLASSES, AND TWENTY ONE WOMEN (25 +/- 5.1 YEARS OLD) PARTICIPATED AS THE CONTROL GROUP. THE YOGA INTERVENTION WAS COMPOSED OF EIGHTEEN SESSIONS, THREE TIMES PER WEEK, AT 1 H PER SESSION. THE MUSCULAR ENDURANCE OF UPPER LIMBS (PUSH-UP) AND ABDOMINAL (SIT-UP) WAS ASSESSED THROUGH THE PROTOCOL SUGGESTED BY GETTMAN (1989) [1] AND GOLDING, MYERS AND SINNING (1989) [2] TO THE MAXIMUM REPETITIONS PERFORMED IN 1 MIN. TO VERIFY THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES INTRA GROUPS AND BETWEEN GROUPS A SPANOVA WAS PERFORMED, AND THE LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE WAS P 0.05), RESPONSIBILITY FOR PERSONS (P > 0.05), POOR PEER RELATIONS (P > 0.05), STRENUOUS WORKING CONDITIONS (P > 0.05), AND UNPROFITABILITY (P > 0.05) AFTER YOGA TRAINING INTERVENTION. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY SUGGESTS THAT 1 WEEK OF RESIDENTIAL YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM CAN IMPROVE OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN PRINCIPALS. 2020 19 1442 31 INCREASED MENTAL WELL-BEING AND REDUCED STATE ANXIETY IN TEACHERS AFTER PARTICIPATION IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM. BACKGROUND REDUCING STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH. TEACHING IS OF SOCIAL IMPORTANCE, BUT IT MAY RECEIVE INADEQUATE RECOGNITION AND REWARDS. THE PRESENT STUDY COMPARED MENTAL WELL-BEING AND STATE ANXIETY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS WHO PRACTICED 15 DAYS OF YOGA IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING WITH THOSE WHO CONTINUED THEIR USUAL ROUTINE. MATERIAL AND METHODS WE ENROLLED 236 PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY. WE ASSIGNED 118 PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., AGE 41.5+/-6.0 YEARS, 74 FEMALES) TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP; THEY UNDERWENT 15 DAYS OF YOGA TRAINING FOR 6 HOURS/DAY) IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA CENTER. THE NON-YOGA CONTROL GROUP (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., AGE 42.3+/-6.0 YEARS, 79 FEMALES) CONSISTED OF 118 TEACHERS WHO CONTINUED WITH THEIR NORMAL TEACHING ROUTINE. RESULTS AFTER 15 DAYS IN THE RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM, THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN OVERALL MENTAL WELL-BEING (P<.001) AND LOWER STATE ANXIETY (P<.01) (REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA, FOLLOWED BY POST HOC MULTIPLE COMPARISON TESTS). AT BASELINE, THE NON-YOGA CONTROL GROUP HAD HIGHER LEVELS OF STATE ANXIETY, PRESUMABLY RELATED TO THEIR REMAINING IN THE WORKPLACE. CONCLUSIONS THE STUDY WAS A 15-DAY, COMPARATIVE, CONTROLLED TRIAL. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT AFTER 15 DAYS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM, PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS INCREASED ALL ASPECTS OF MENTAL WELL-BEING AND HAD REDUCED STATE ANXIETY. 2018 20 1364 32 IMPACT OF 10-MIN DAILY YOGA EXERCISES ON PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISCOMFORT OF HOME-OFFICE WORKERS DURING COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF 10 MIN/DAY OF YOGA FOR 1 MONTH ON MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT AND MOOD DISTURBANCE OF HOME-OFFICE WORKERS. BACKGROUND: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC FORCED MANY PEOPLE TO SWITCH TO TELEWORKING. THE ABRUPT CHANGE FROM AN OFFICE SETTING TO AN IMPROVISED HOME-OFFICE MAY NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE MUSCULOSKELETAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH OF WORKERS. BY PROVIDING MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EXERCISES, YOGA MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING ADVERSE EFFECTS. METHOD: FIFTY-FOUR PARTICIPANTS (42 WOMEN, 12 MEN) FOLLOWED A 1-MONTH YOGA PROGRAM, WHILE 40 PARTICIPANTS (26 WOMEN, 14 MEN) CONTINUED WITH THEIR COMMON WORK ROUTINE. THE CORNELL MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT QUESTIONNAIRE WAS USED TO EVALUATE SEVERITY, INTERFERENCE WITH WORK AND FREQUENCY OF PAIN, AND TO OBTAIN A TOTAL DISCOMFORT SCORE FOR 25 BODY AREAS. MOOD DISTURBANCE WAS EVALUATED WITH THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATES QUESTIONNAIRE. BOTH GROUPS COMPLETED BOTH QUESTIONNAIRES, BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXPERIMENTATION PERIOD. RESULTS: AFTER 1 MONTH, FOR THE YOGA GROUP ONLY, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS WERE OBSERVED IN THE DISCOMFORT OF EYES, HEAD, NECK, UPPER AND LOWER BACK, RIGHT WRIST, AND HIPS/BUTTOCKS, AS WELL AS REDUCTIONS IN DISCOMFORT SEVERITY, FREQUENCY AND INTERFERENCE FOR THE NECK, UPPER AND LOWER BACK. TOTAL MOOD DISTURBANCE WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED FOR THE YOGA GROUP ONLY. NO FAVORABLE CHANGES OCCURRED FOR THE CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSION: THE YOGA INTERVENTION PROGRAM APPEARS TO REDUCE MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT AND MOOD DISTURBANCE OF HOME-OFFICE WORKERS. APPLICATION: SEDENTARY WORKERS MAY BENEFIT FROM 10 MIN/DAY OF YOGA DURING THE WORKDAY TO ATTENUATE POTENTIAL PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL DISCOMFORT DURING THE CURRENT PANDEMIC AND BEYOND. 2021