Yogic Exercise on Cardio- Respiratory Fitness, Mental Health

Objective: We intended to evaluate the efficacy of yogic exercise on cardio-respiratory fitness; memory, stress, mental health and plasma nitric oxide level in healthy adult subjects. We also aimed to find out the correlation between change in cardiorespiratory fitness & mental health and nitric oxide level due to yoga practice. Methods: In this yoga interventional study, the most prevalent yoga exercise model (Asanas, Pranayama and Meditation) was used. The study samples (n=200) were healthy male (n=120) and female (n=80) adults (mean age=39.95 years) were recruited by taking written consent. Subjects with any systemic and/or psychological disorders or under specific medications, pregnant women were excluded. Subjects who have never practiced or practicing yoga or other type of physical exercise and willing to practice yoga (1 hr per day; 6 days per week for 6 months) were included in the study. Data was collected at baseline (pre-yogic exercise) and after 6-months of yoga training (post-yogic exercise). The following parameters were measured at baseline and after yoga practice for 6 months: Cardio-respiratory parameters and fitness: Resting HR, resting BP, HR and BP after Harvard Step Test (HST), vital capacity, FEV1, PEFR, VO2max, physical fitness index (PFI); Mental health: memory, perceived stress (PSS), anxiety, depression, emotional balance, loss of behavioral or emotional control, general positive affect, life satisfaction, psychological distress & well-being, mental health index (MHI); and plasma nitric oxide level (NOx). The collected data was statistically analyzed with SPSS (24th version). Paired t-test was applied to determine the significance difference between baseline and post-yogic data values. The p-value was established at 5% level of significance.