1 1654 147 MUSCLE UTILIZATION PATTERNS VARY BY SKILL LEVELS OF THE PRACTITIONERS ACROSS SPECIFIC YOGA POSES (ASANAS). OBJECTIVE: TO COMPARE MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS IN 14 DOMINANT SIDE MUSCLES DURING DIFFERENT YOGA POSES ACROSS THREE SKILL LEVELS. DESIGN: MIXED REPEATED-MEASURES DESCRIPTIVE STUDY. SETTING: UNIVERSITY NEUROMUSCULAR RESEARCH LABORATORY, MIAMI, US. PARTICIPANTS: A GROUP OF 36 YOGA PRACTITIONERS (9 M/27 F; MEAN +/- SD, 31.6 +/- 12.6 YEARS) WITH AT LEAST 3 MONTHS YOGA PRACTICE EXPERIENCE. INTERVENTIONS: EACH OF THE 11 SURYA NAMASKAR POSES A AND B WAS PERFORMED SEPARATELY FOR 15S AND THE SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY FOR 14 MUSCLES WERE RECORDED. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: NORMALIZED ROOT MEAN SQUARE OF THE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC SIGNAL (NRMSEMG) FOR 14 MUSCLES (5 UPPER BODY, 4 TRUNK, 5 LOWER BODY). RESULTS: THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECTS OF POSE FOR ALL FOURTEEN MUSCLES EXCEPT MIDDLE TRAPEZIUS (P<.02) AND OF SKILL LEVEL FOR THE VASTUS MEDIALIS; P=.027). A SIGNIFICANT SKILL LEVEL X POSE INTERACTION EXISTED FOR FIVE MUSCLES (PECTORALIS MAJOR STERNAL HEAD, ANTERIOR DELTOID, MEDIAL DELTOID, UPPER RECTUS ABDOMINIS AND GASTROCNEMIUS LATERALIS; P<.05). POST HOC ANALYSES USING BONFERRONI COMPARISONS INDICATED THAT DIFFERENT POSES ACTIVATED SPECIFIC MUSCLE GROUPS; HOWEVER, THIS VARIED BY SKILL LEVEL. CONCLUSION: OUR RESULTS INDICATE THAT DIFFERENT POSES CAN PRODUCE SPECIFIC MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS WHICH MAY VARY DUE TO PRACTITIONERS' SKILL LEVELS. THIS INFORMATION CAN BE USED IN DESIGNING REHABILITATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS AND FOR CUING DURING YOGA TRAINING. 2014 2 626 60 DIFFERENCE IN MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS DURING HIGH-SPEED VERSUS STANDARD-SPEED YOGA: A RANDOMIZED SEQUENCE CROSSOVER STUDY. OBJECTIVES: TO COMPARE THE DIFFERENCE IN MUSCLE ACTIVATION BETWEEN HIGH-SPEED YOGA AND STANDARD-SPEED YOGA AND TO COMPARE MUSCLE ACTIVATION OF THE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN POSES AND THE HELD PHASES OF A YOGA POSE. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED SEQUENCE CROSSOVER TRIAL SETTING: A LABORATORY OF NEUROMUSCULAR RESEARCH AND ACTIVE AGING INTERVENTIONS: EIGHT MINUTES OF CONTINUOUS SUN SALUTATION B WAS PERFORMED, AT A HIGH SPEED VERSUS A STANDARD-SPEED, SEPARATELY. ELECTROMYOGRAPHY WAS USED TO QUANTIFY NORMALIZED MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS OF EIGHT UPPER AND LOWER BODY MUSCLES (PECTORALIS MAJOR, MEDIAL DELTOIDS, LATERAL HEAD OF THE TRICEPS, MIDDLE FIBERS OF THE TRAPEZIUS, VASTUS MEDIALIS, MEDIAL GASTROCNEMIUS, THORACIC EXTENSOR SPINAE, AND EXTERNAL OBLIQUES) DURING THE HIGH-SPEED AND STANDARD-SPEED YOGA PROTOCOLS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: DIFFERENCE IN NORMALIZED MUSCLE ACTIVATION BETWEEN HIGH-SPEED YOGA AND STANDARD-SPEED YOGA. RESULTS: NORMALIZED MUSCLE ACTIVITY SIGNALS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN ALL EIGHT MUSCLES DURING THE TRANSITION PHASES OF POSES COMPARED TO THE HELD PHASES (P<0.01). THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT INTERACTION BETWEEN SPEEDXPHASE; HOWEVER, GREATER NORMALIZED MUSCLE ACTIVITY WAS SEEN FOR HIGHSPEED YOGA ACROSS THE ENTIRE SESSION. CONCLUSIONS: OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT TRANSITIONS FROM ONE HELD PHASE OF A POSE TO ANOTHER PRODUCES HIGHER NORMALIZED MUSCLE ACTIVITY THAN THE HELD PHASES OF THE POSES AND THAT OVERALL ACTIVITY IS GREATER DURING HIGHSPEED YOGA THAN STANDARD-SPEED YOGA. THEREFORE, THE TRANSITION SPEED AND ASSOCIATED NUMBER OF POSES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN TARGETING SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE. 2017 3 1290 29 GROUND REACTION FORCES GENERATED BY TWENTY-EIGHT HATHA YOGA POSTURES. ADHERENTS CLAIM MANY BENEFITS FROM THE PRACTICE OF YOGA, INCLUDING PROMOTION OF BONE HEALTH AND PREVENTION OF OSTEOPOROSIS. HOWEVER, NO KNOWN STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED WHETHER YOGA ENHANCES BONE MINERAL DENSITY. FURTHERMORE, NONE HAVE ESTIMATED REACTION FORCES APPLIED BY YOGA PRACTITIONERS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO COLLECT GROUND REACTION FORCE (GRF) DATA ON A VARIETY OF HATHA YOGA POSTURES THAT WOULD COMMONLY BE PRACTICED IN FITNESS CENTERS OR PRIVATE STUDIOS. TWELVE FEMALE AND EIGHT MALE VOLUNTEERS PERFORMED A SEQUENCE OF 28 HATHA YOGA POSTURES WHILE GRF DATA WERE COLLECTED WITH AN AMTI STRAIN-GAUGE FORCE PLATFORM. THE SEQUENCE WAS REPEATED SIX TIMES BY EACH STUDY SUBJECT. FOUR DEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE STUDIED: PEAK VERTICAL GRF, MEAN VERTICAL GRF, PEAK RESULTANT GRF, AND MEAN RESULTANT GRF. UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS WAS USED TO IDENTIFY MEAN VALUES AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES. PEAK VERTICAL AND RESULTANT VALUES OF EACH POSTURE WERE SIMILAR FOR ALL SUBJECTS, AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS WERE SMALL. SIMILARLY, MEAN VERTICAL AND RESULTANT VALUES WERE SIMILAR FOR ALL SUBJECTS. THIS 28 POSTURE YOGA SEQUENCE PRODUCED LOW IMPACT GRF APPLIED TO UPPER AND LOWER EXTREMITIES. FURTHER RESEARCH IS WARRANTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THESE FORCES ARE SUFFICIENT TO PROMOTE OSTEOGENESIS OR MAINTAIN CURRENT BONE HEALTH IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. 2012 4 2340 35 USE OF A 'POSE RATE' TO QUANTIFY YOGA. OBJECTIVE: TO DEVELOP A METHOD THAT DESCRIBES THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COMPLETED DURING YOGA, AND TO USE THIS METHOD TO COMPARE THREE DIFFERENT YOGA VIDEO CATEGORIES: WEIGHT LOSS, BEGINNER, AND STRESS RELIEF/MEDITATION. DESIGN: THIS STUDY CONDUCTED CONTENT ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE YOGA VIDEOS IN WHICH PRE-DETERMINED CHARACTERISTICS OF YOGA ROUTINES WERE RECORDED. OUTCOME MEASURES INCLUDED THE YOGA ROUTINE CHARACTERISTICS OF: DURATION OF EACH YOGA ROUTINE, NUMBER OF COMPLETED POSES, BODY POSITION OF EACH POSE, AND POSE RATE. RESULTS: TWENTY-TWO ROUTINES FROM YOGA VIDEOS WERE ANALYZED. DURATION OF ROUTINE BETWEEN THE THREE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES WAS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT. THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE VIDEO CATEGORIES BASED ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTAL NUMBER OF POSES AND THE POSE RATE, WITH WEIGHT LOSS ROUTINES HAVING THE HIGHEST VALUES COMPARE TO BEGINNER ROUTINES AND STRESS RELIEF/MEDITATION (TOTAL NUMBER OF POSES: 74.1, 34.3, 25.6 POSES, P < 0.05; POSE RATE: 2.5M 1.5, 1.1 POSES/MIN, P < 0.05, RESPECTIVELY). ADDITIONALLY, DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED BETWEEN BODY POSTURES IN POSES WITH WEIGHT LOSS VIDEOS INCLUDING MORE STANDING POSES (38.8, 17.0, 5.7 POSES, P < 0.05, RESPECTIVELY) AND A LOWER PERCENTAGE OF SEATED (9.9%, 15.8%, 39.0%, P < 0.05, RESPECTIVELY) AND SUPINE POSES (10.9%, 18.5%, 28.8%, P < 0.05, RESPECTIVELY) COMPARED TO THE BEGINNER AND STRESS/MEDITATION VIDEOS. CONCLUSIONS: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTAL POSES, POSE RATE, AND TOTAL STANDING POSES SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIFFERENT STYLES OF YOGA. FURTHER RESEARCH SHOULD BE CONDUCTED TO VALIDATE THESE CHARACTERISTICS AS AN INTENSITY MEASURES AND TO ASSESS IF THESE CHARACTERISTICS HAVE VARIATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT YOGA STYLES. 2019 5 2085 34 THE EFFECT OF LONG TERM COMBINED YOGA PRACTICE ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE OF HEALTHY ADULTS. BACKGROUND: DIFFERENT PROCEDURES PRACTICED IN YOGA HAVE STIMULATORY OR INHIBITORY EFFECTS ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE WHEN STUDIED ACUTELY. IN DAILY LIFE HOWEVER, THESE PROCEDURES ARE USUALLY PRACTICED IN COMBINATION. THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE NET CHANGE IN THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR) OF INDIVIDUALS ACTIVELY ENGAGING IN A COMBINATION OF YOGA PRACTICES (ASANA OR YOGIC POSTURES, MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA OR BREATHING EXERCISES) FOR A MINIMUM PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS, AT A RESIDENTIAL YOGA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER AT BANGALORE. METHODS: THE MEASURED BMR OF INDIVIDUALS PRACTICING YOGA THROUGH A COMBINATION OF PRACTICES WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONTROL SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA BUT LED SIMILAR LIFESTYLES. RESULTS: THE BMR OF THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE NON-YOGA GROUP, AND WAS LOWER BY ABOUT 13 % WHEN ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT (P < 0.001). THIS DIFFERENCE PERSISTED WHEN THE GROUPS WERE STRATIFIED BY GENDER; HOWEVER, THE DIFFERENCE IN BMR ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT WAS GREATER IN WOMEN THAN MEN (ABOUT 8 AND 18% RESPECTIVELY). IN ADDITION, THE MEAN BMR OF THE YOGA GROUP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THEIR PREDICTED VALUES, WHILE THE MEAN BMR OF NON-YOGA GROUP WAS COMPARABLE WITH THEIR PREDICTED VALUES DERIVED FROM 1985 WHO/FAO/UNU PREDICTIVE EQUATIONS. CONCLUSION: THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BMR, PROBABLY LINKED TO REDUCED AROUSAL, WITH THE LONG TERM PRACTICE OF YOGA USING A COMBINATION OF STIMULATORY AND INHIBITORY YOGIC PRACTICES. 2006 6 80 36 A MATHEMATICAL METHOD FOR ELECTROMYOGRAPHY ANALYSIS OF MUSCLE FUNCTIONS DURING YOGASANA. CONTEXT: FOR THE PAST FEW DECADES, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE PRACTICING YOGA IS INCREASING IN NUMBER. YOGASANAS NEED SMOOTH BODY MOVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING DEFINED POSTURES THAT THE PERSON MUST HOLD ON TO ACTIVATE SPECIFIC MUSCLES OF THE BODY RELATED TO THAT ASANA. YOGASANAS SHOULD BE PERFORMED WITH PERFECTION TO DERIVE MAXIMUM BENEFITS. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INTRODUCE A MATHEMATICAL METHOD TO UNDERSTAND MUSCLE FUNCTIONALITIES WHILE DOING YOGASANAS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: USED DELSYS SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY (SEMG) - TRIGNO (DELSYS INC.) SENSORS FOR DATA RECORDING AND ANALYZING MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS. RESULTS: PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS WAS QUANTIFIED USING NORMALIZED SEMG SIGNALS. THE SEMG DATA DURING FINAL POSTURE WERE FIT TO A STRAIGHT LINE USING LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT THE SLOPE OF THE BEST FIT LINE IS A GOOD METRIC FOR MONITORING THE MUSCLE ACTIVITY DURING YOGA PERFORMANCE. THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS METHOD ARE THE SLOPE OF THE LINE IS A GOOD INDICATOR FOR MONITORING THE MUSCLE ACTIVITY WHILE DOING YOGASANA AND THE METHOD SUGGESTED IN THIS STUDY CAN BE EXTENDED FOR ANALYZING OTHER ASANAS AS WELL. 2019 7 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 8 1988 34 SPECTRAL PARAMETERS OF HRV IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS, ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY MALES. PHYSICAL INACTIVITY IS AN IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR FOR CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY. EXERCISE IS CONSIDERED AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD FOR IMPROVING AND MAINTAINING PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH. ALTHOUGH YOGA IS HISTORICALLY A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE BELIEF THAT YOGA BENEFITS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE HEART RATE VARIABILITY WHICH REFLECTS AUTONOMIC CONTROL OF HEART AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS, ATHLETES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE. THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT IN THE DEPARTMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AT MAMC AGROHA, HISAR AND PT. BD SHARMA PGIMS ROHTAK, HARYANA. THE STUDY GROUP COMPRISED OF 1200 HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS OF 16 TO 55 YEARS OF AGE. THE STUDY GROUP WAS DIVIDED INTO FOUR AGE GROUPS: GROUP A OF AGE 16 TO 25 YEARS; GROUP B OF AGE 26 TO 35 YEARS; GROUP C OF AGE 36 TO 45 YEARS AND GROUP D OF AGE 46 TO 55 YEARS. ALL AGE GROUPS WERE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES I.E ATHLETE (RUNNER), YOGA (YOGA PRACTITIONERS) AND SEDENTARY IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS WITH SEDENTARY LIFE STYLE WERE INCLUDED. THE BASAL RECORDING OF ECG IN LEAD II WAS DONE FOR 5 MINUTES. THE POLYRITE-D ECG DATA WAS USED FOR ANALYSIS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY BY FREQUENCY DOMAIN METHOD. TWO SPECTRAL COMPONENTS WERE RECORDED NAMELY HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) COMPONENT (0.15-0.4 HZ), AN INDICATOR OF VAGAL EFFERENT ACTIVITY AND LOW FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT (0.04-.15 HZ), REPLICATOR OF COMPOSITE SYMPATHO-VAGAL INTERPLAY. HF COMPONENT IN NORMALIZED UNIT WAS FOUND SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH IN AGE GROUP B AND C IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND ATHLETES AS COMPARED TO SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS AND IN AGE GROUP D SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AS COMPARED TO ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS. SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED LF/HF RATIO WAS FOUND IN AGE GROUP B AND C IN YOGA AND ATHLETE SUBJECTS AS COMPARED TO SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS AND IN AGE GROUP D IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AS COMPARED TO ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS. THIS INDICATES THAT PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. 2015 9 2152 28 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 10 2752 30 YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERIOR MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE. YOGA IS AN ACTIVITY THAT AIMS TO INTEGRATE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS AND IS AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR APPROACH TO ENHANCING PHYSICAL FITNESS. THE INTEGRATION OF IMAGERY WITHIN YOGA PRACTICE IS CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT AND MAY BE CRITICAL IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE BENEFITS OF YOGA THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED. IN THIS STUDY, WE TESTED WHETHER INDIVIDUALS WHO PRACTICE YOGA DEMONSTRATE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE ON AN OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF IMPLICIT MOTOR IMAGERY. THIRTY-SIX PARTICIPANTS (18 YOGA, 18 NON-YOGA) MATCHED FOR AGE, SEX AND HANDEDNESS, UNDERTOOK THE HAND LATERALITY RECOGNITION TASK; AN OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF IMPLICIT MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE. ACCURACY AND RESPONSE TIMES WERE GATHERED AND ANALYSED TO DETERMINE ANY GROUP DIFFERENCES AS WELL AS ANY DIFFERENCES RELATING TO THE TYPICAL HALLMARKS OF IMAGERY (I.E. DOMINANCE AND AWKWARDNESS EFFECTS) ON THE TASK. RESPONSE TIMES (RTS) IN THE YOGA GROUP WERE SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER THAN CONTROLS (P < 0.05) AND THERE WAS ALSO A TREND TOWARDS GREATER ACCURACY FOR THE YOGA GROUP (P = 0.073). DOMINANCE EFFECTS (FASTER RESPONSES TO IMAGES CORRESPONDING WITH THE DOMINANT LIMB) AND AWKWARDNESS EFFECTS (FASTER RESPONSES TO IMAGES CORRESPONDING WITH NATURAL COMPARED WITH AWKWARD POSTURES) WERE EVIDENT ACROSS GROUPS, SUPPORTING THE PARTICIPANTS' USE OF MOTOR IMAGERY IN UNDERTAKING THE TASK. ADDITIONALLY, A GROUP X AWKWARDNESS INTERACTION (P < 0.05) REVEALED THAT THE ENHANCED IMAGERY PERFORMANCE FOR THE YOGA GROUP WAS MOST PRONOUNCED FOR AWKWARD POSTURES. THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO SHOW THAT YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERIOR MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE; AN ASSOCIATION THAT MAY BE IMPORTANT IN EXPLAINING THE ESTABLISHED REHABILITATIVE VALUE OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC PAIN. 2017 11 552 69 CORE MUSCLE FUNCTION DURING SPECIFIC YOGA POSES. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL USE OF 11 YOGA POSES IN SPECIFIC TRAINING AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMS VIA EXAMINATION OF THE MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS IN SELECTED TRUNK AND HIP MUSCLES. DESIGN: REPEATED-MEASURES DESCRIPTIVE STUDY. SETTING: UNIVERSITY LABORATORY, US. PARTICIPANTS: THIRTY HEALTHY YOGA PRACTITIONERS WITH MORE THAN 3 MONTHS YOGA PRACTICE EXPERIENCE (MEAN AGE+/-SD, 32.0+/-12.3 Y; 8 M/22 F) PARTICIPATED. INTERVENTIONS: SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC SIGNALS OF UPPER RECTUS ABDOMINIS, LOWER RECTUS ABDOMINIS, LONGISSIMUS THORACIS, EXTERNAL OBLIQUE ABDOMINIS AND GLUTEUS MAXIMUM MUSCLE WERE RECORDED IN 11 YOGA POSES: HALFWAY LIFT, FORWARD FOLD, DOWNWARD FACING DOG, UPWARD FACING DOG, HIGH PLANK, LOW PLANK, CHAIR, MOUNTAIN WITH ARMS DOWN, MOUNTAIN WITH ARMS UP, WARRIOR 1 (BOTH SIDES). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ROOT MEAN SQUARE VALUES OF EACH MUSCLE DURING EACH POSE, NORMALIZED BY THE MAXIMAL VOLUNTARY CONTRACTION. RESULTS: THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECTS OF POSE (P<.001) AND MUSCLE (P<.001), AND A SIGNIFICANT POSEXMUSCLE INTERACTION (P=.001). THE POST HOC ANALYSIS REVEALED UNIQUE PATTERNS FOR THE FIVE MUSCLES OF INTEREST FOR EACH OF THE 11 POSES (P<.024). CONCLUSIONS: VARIATIONS IN CORE MUSCLE FIRING PATTERNS DEPEND ON THE TRUNK AND PELVIC POSITIONS DURING THESE POSES. TRAINING PROGRAMS CAN BE DEVELOPED BY CHOOSING PARTICULAR POSES TO TARGET SPECIFIC CORE MUSCLES FOR ADDRESSING LOW BACK PAIN AND DECLINES IN PERFORMANCE. THE HIGH PLANK, LOW PLANK AND DOWNWARD FACING DOG POSES ARE EFFECTIVE FOR STRENGTHENING EXTERNAL OBLIQUE ABDOMINIS, CHAIR AND WARRIOR 1 POSES FOR TARGETING GLUTEUS MAXIMUM, AND CHAIR AND HALFWAY LIFT POSES FOR STRENGTHENING LONGISSIMUS THORACIS. AND THESE THREE MUSCLES COULD BE STRENGTHENED BY THE UPWARD FACING DOG POSE. 2014 12 1095 26 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