1 992 120 EFFECTS OF HATHA YOGA PRACTICE ON THE HEALTH-RELATED ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS. TEN HEALTHY, UNTRAINED VOLUNTEERS (NINE FEMALES AND ONE MALE), RANGING IN AGE FROM 18-27 YEARS, WERE STUDIED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF HATHA YOGA PRACTICE ON THE HEALTH-RELATED ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS, INCLUDING MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE, FLEXIBILITY, CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS, BODY COMPOSITION, AND PULMONARY FUNCTION. SUBJECTS WERE REQUIRED TO ATTEND A MINIMUM OF TWO YOGA CLASSES PER WEEK FOR A TOTAL OF 8 WEEKS. EACH YOGA SESSION CONSISTED OF 10 MINUTES OF PRANAYAMAS (BREATH-CONTROL EXERCISES), 15 MINUTES OF DYNAMIC WARM-UP EXERCISES, 50 MINUTES OF ASANAS (YOGA POSTURES), AND 10 MINUTES OF SUPINE RELAXATION IN SAVASANA (CORPSE POSE). THE SUBJECTS WERE EVALUATED BEFORE AND AFTER THE 8-WEEK TRAINING PROGRAM. ISOKINETIC MUSCULAR STRENGTH FOR ELBOW EXTENSION, ELBOW FLEXION, AND KNEE EXTENSION INCREASED BY 31%, 19%, AND 28% (P<0.05), RESPECTIVELY, WHEREAS ISOMETRIC MUSCULAR ENDURANCE FOR KNEE FLEXION INCREASED 57% (P<0.01). ANKLE FLEXIBILITY, SHOULDER ELEVATION, TRUNK EXTENSION, AND TRUNK FLEXION INCREASED BY 13% (P<0.01), 155% (P<0.001), 188% (P<0.001), AND 14% (P<0.05), RESPECTIVELY. ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE MAXIMAL OXYGEN UPTAKE INCREASED BY 7% AND 6%, RESPECTIVELY (P<0.01). THESE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT REGULAR HATHA YOGA PRACTICE CAN ELICIT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE HEALTH-RELATED ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS. (C)2001 CHF, INC. 2001 2 2509 30 YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES HAVE NO IMPACT ON ISOKINETIC AND ISOINERTIAL POWER. WOOTEN, SV, CHERUP, N, MAZZEI, N, PATEL, S, MOONEY, K, RAFIQ, A, AND SIGNORILE, JF. YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES HAVE NO IMPACT ON ISOKINETIC AND ISOINERTIAL POWER. J STRENGTH COND RES 34(2): 430-439, 2020-AS AN EXERCISE DISCIPLINE, YOGA INCORPORATES BREATHING (PRANAYAMA) AND POSTURE (ASANA) TECHNIQUES TO FACILITATE IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, AND MEDITATION. BOTH TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN USED TO ENHANCE MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND POWER OUTPUT. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON LOWER-LIMB POWER OUTPUT. THIRTY-TWO INDIVIDUALS (15 MEN AND 17 WOMEN) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ALL SUBJECTS PERFORMED A BASELINE 1 REPETITION MAXIMUM (1RM) ON A PNEUMATIC LEG PRESS MACHINE AND ISOKINETIC TESTING ON A BIODEX 4 DYNAMOMETER. PARTICIPANTS THEN PERFORMED 3RM POWER TESTS AT 50% OF 1RM ON THE PNEUMATIC LEG PRESS MACHINE USING 3 DIFFERENT YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES (UJJAYI, BHASTRIKA, AND KAPALABHATI) AND NORMAL BREATHING (CONTROL) ACROSS ALL REPETITIONS. AFTER POWER TESTING, PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED AN ISOKINETIC TEST ON THE BIODEX 4 DYNAMOMETER USING THEIR DOMINANT LEG. SUBJECTS HAD THEIR KNEE PLACED AT A PREDETERMINED STARTING POSITION (90 DEGREES ) AND EXECUTED KNEE EXTENSION AT 3 RANDOMIZED TESTING SPEEDS (60, 180, AND 300 DEGREES .S). THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC BREATHING PROTOCOLS BEFORE AND DURING THE LEG PRESS PRODUCED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN POWER OUTPUT. FOR ISOKINETIC POWER MEASURED AT 60, 180, AND 300 DEGREES .S, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE AMONG TESTING SPEEDS (ETA = 0.639; P < 0.0001) AND A SIGNIFICANT SEX X SPEED INTERACTION (ETA = 0.064; P < 0.0001), WHERE MEN CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATED GREATER ISOINERTIAL POWER, ISOKINETIC POWER, ISOKINETIC TORQUE, AND ISOKINETIC WORK THAN WOMEN. NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES OR INTERACTIONS WERE DETECTED. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OUR STUDY AND OTHERS, WHICH HAVE CONCLUDED THAT ADOPTING SPECIFIC BREATHING TECHNIQUES CAN ENHANCE CORE STABILITY AND FORCE PRODUCTION DURING LIFTING, MAY BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE ACUTE NATURE OF THE DESIGN, THE NOVICE PARTICIPANTS WHO HAD INSUFFICIENT TIME TO PRACTICE THE BREATHING TECHNIQUES OR TESTING PROTOCOLS, AND THE USE OF TESTS THAT ISOLATED SPECIFIC MUSCLE GROUPS. NONETHELESS, THE CURRENT FINDINGS DO NOT SUPPORT THE USE OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES AS A METHOD TO ENHANCE POWER OUTPUT, WHETHER USED BEFORE OR DURING POWER PERFORMANCE. 2020 3 2131 34 THE EFFECTS OF A 6-MONTH MODERATE-INTENSITY HATHA YOGA-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM ON HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS IN MIDDLE-AGED SEDENTARY WOMEN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY. BACKGROUND: THERE IS PAUCITY OF DATA EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LONG-TERM HATHA YOGA-BASED (HY) PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON THE HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS (H-RF) OF ASYMPTOMATIC, SEDENTARY WOMEN. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF A 6-MONTH HY-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM ON H-RF COMPONENTS IN SEDENTARY MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN. METHODS: EIGHTY SEDENTARY WOMEN WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED INTO EITHER THE HY GROUP (HYG) (N.=42) OR THE CONTROL GROUP (CG) (N.=38). THE 6-MONTH HYG PROGRAM INVOLVED A PROGRESSIVE SERIES OF VINYASA FLOW POSES PERFORMED 3 TIMES/WEEK FOR 60 MINUTES (40 MINUTES WITHIN THE EXERCISE ZONE OF 60-75% HRMAX). THE CG PARTICIPANTS DID NOT UNDERGO ANY PHYSICAL TRAINING OR EDUCATION. HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS PARAMETERS INCLUDED MEASURES OF PRE- AND POST-TRAINING: BODY COMPOSITION, MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND MAXIMAL VOLUNTARY ISOMETRIC TORQUES OF ELBOW FLEXORS AND KNEE EXTENSORS, CARDIO-RESPIRATORY FITNESS, LOWER BACK AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY AND A STATIC-DYNAMIC BALANCE. RESULTS: TWO-WAY MIXED DESIGN ANOVA REVEALED SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECTS FOR ALL THE INDICATORS OF H-RF. TUKEY POST-HOC TESTS CONFIRMED THAT THE HYG DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN EVERY VARIABLE TESTED. EXAMPLES OF THE BENEFITS ACHIEVED INCLUDE (ALL P<.001): AN AVERAGE LOSS OF 1.03 KG AND A 4.82% DECREASE IN BODY FAT, 14.6% AND 13.1% GAINS IN ISOMETRIC STRENGTH OF THE KNEE EXTENSORS AND ELBOW FLEXORS RESPECTIVELY, AN INCREASE IN RELATIVE VO2MAX OF 6.1% (33.12+/-5.30 TO 35.14+/-4.82 ML/KG/MIN), A 4-CM OR 10.4% INCREASE IN THEIR MSAR, AND AN AVERAGE IMPROVED BALANCE INDEX OF 5.6 MM/S. REVERSELY, THE CG SHOWED NON-SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN H-RF VARIABLES (ALL P>0.05; PERCENT RANGE FROM -1.4% TO 1.1%). CONCLUSIONS: BY PARTICIPATING IN A MODERATE-INTENSITY 6-MONTH HY-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM, MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THEIR HR-F STATUS. THE APPLICATION OF PROGRESSIVE TARGET HEART RATE GOALS FACILITATED GREATER THAN EXPECTED IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDIO-RESPIRATORY FITNESS AND IMPROVEMENTS IN BODY COMPOSITION. 2020 4 1095 23 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 2PEAK) AND MAXIMUM HR HAD BEEN ESTIMATED EARLIER AFTER A MAXIMAL TREADMILL TEST. VO2 DURING VINYASA YOGA SESSIONS WAS ESTIMATED FROM INDIVIDUAL REGRESSION EQUATIONS USING THE RELATIONSHIP OF VO2 AND HR VALUES DERIVED FROM VO2PEAK TEST, WHILE THE METABOLIC RATE (KCAL/MIN) WAS CALCULATED FROM THE RELATIONSHIP OF HR AND KCAL/MIN. TOTAL SESSION ENERGY CONSUMPTION WAS THE AVERAGE VALUE OF THE TWO YOGA SESSIONS. RESULTS: THE 2 (GENDER) X 4 (SECTIONS) MIXED ANOVA REVEALED NO SIGNIFICANT INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TWO FACTORS (P=0.101) FOR THE MEAN METABOLIC RATE (7.1+/-2.6 KCAL/MIN). MEAN METABOLIC RATE THOUGHT WAS HIGHER (P=0.015) IN MALES COMPARED TO FEMALES AT EACH SECTION. ALSO, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND AMONG THE FOUR VINYASA YOGA SECTIONS (P<0.001) IN THE RATE OF ENERGY EXPENDITURE, WITH HSN PRESENTING THE HIGHEST MEAN VALUES (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IT SEEMS THAT SYSTEMATIC PARTICIPATION IN VINYASA YOGA MAY EFFECTIVELY IMPROVE CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS AND PROMOTE BODY WEIGHT LOSS, AS AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD TO TRADITIONAL AEROBIC EXERCISE. 2020