The study, published in Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise (2004, vol 35, no 5), investigated the hemodynamic and metabolic demand of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga practice in experienced yoga practitioners. Researchers at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, administered a 15-minute videotaped vinyasa yoga sequence including six yoga positions to 13 experienced yoga practitioners (average age 36 years). The participants' oxygen consumption (VO2), heart-rate response (HR), blood lactate levels, and caloric expenditure were monitored as they participated in the yoga session.
The researchers found that the participants' heart rates increased an average of 77 percent of the maximum, during the yoga session. Furthermore, the participants' burned up to 507 calories per hour, the equivalent of running an 11 minute mile.
"Despite the lack of relationship between HR and VO2, and the mild blood lactate level, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga can provide a moderate cardiovascular stimulus through a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy requirements," conclude the study authors. "The 6.7 MET energy cost of Vinyasa Yoga is similar to the moderate exercise intensity required by aerobic dance and walking."
Posted by Kristopher Foster on June 30, 2006 01:53 PM
