Effect of yogic intervention on pulmonary function in physically fit individuals: A pilot study

Abstract

The benefits of any training depend on its duration. Long-term yogic practice will give more health benefits. It is necessary to define a minimum duration for practice to get its maximum effects. The purpose of the study was to identify the duration of yogic intervention requirements to induce significant changes in pulmonary function. The present study was undertaken on six participants (29-34 years of age, height 177 ± 7.21, body mass (74.7 ± 16.38) and BMI (25.31 ± 3.60); mean ± SD). They were undergoing yogic intervention for a total of one hour, five days a week for six weeks. Height, body mass, and pulmonary function test (PFT) involving measurements of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow, FEF25-75, peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) was assessed. Pulmonary function measurements were done in a time point manner i.e., before the yogic intervention, 2nd week, 4th week, and 6th week of yogic intervention. The Difference at different time points was assessed by performing a one-way repeated measure ANOVA test. It was found significant enhancement at the 6th week of yogic intervention with p values like PEFR (p