NCT04353700

Effects of a 12-week Home-based Yoga on Bone and Cardiovascular Health

Does a 12-week Home-based Dynamic Yoga Intervention Improve Bone and Cardiovascular Health in Healthy Premenopausal Women? A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 35 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Lowell · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 30 Years – 48 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

While effects of specific exercise interventions on bone and CVD in postmenopausal women have been demonstrated and evaluated, the effects of randomized controlled exercise interventions, particularly in middle-aged premenopausal women are sparse. Therefore, it is imperative to examine the relation between behavioral interventions and bone and cardiovascular outcomes in premenopausal women as this understudied group is at high risk for the initial stages of bone loss and cardiovascular disease development.

Detailed description

Presently, it is not clear whether the intensity of Yoga interventions is high enough to induce positive effects on bone and cardiovascular health in a healthy population. For example, Hagins et al. (2007) reported that the metabolic costs of Hatha Yoga, averaged across the entire session, represent low levels of physical activity (walking). On the other hand, Ashtanga Yoga, or power Yoga, is performed at a higher intensity than Hatha Yoga and has been shown to elicit significantly higher heart rates than either Hatha or gentle Yoga (Cowen and Adams, 2007). Sun Salutations (SS) are an example of an Ashtanga Yoga sequence, where yoga postures are performed dynamically with combinations of forward and backward bending poses (Omkar et al., 2011). A previous 8-month yoga intervention found that regular long-term Ashtanga yoga had a small positive effect on bone formation in premenopausal women. Although Yoga has the potential to be an alternative physical activity to improve bone health and arterial stiffness, there is a lack of high-quality evidence for this type of intervention. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of a 12-week home-based dynamic yoga intervention designed to improve bone metabolism and arterial stiffness in healthy premenopausal women.

Conditions

• Osteoporosis
• Cardiovascular Risk Factor

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Yoga group	During the in-home yoga intervention, participants performed 30 to 50 minutes of yoga postures three to five times a week for 12 weeks, including 5 minutes of warm-up exercise, 15 to 30 minutes of dynamic flow yoga postures, 10 minutes of weight barring standing postures, and 5 minutes of cool-down. These in-home sessions were a repeat of what participants learned during the first week of training session at UML. We progressively increased the intensity of the home practice sessions by adding the number of sun salutation (SS) over the 12 weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-09-19
• Primary completion: 2019-02-16
• Completion: 2019-09-25
• First posted: 2020-04-20
• Last updated: 2020-04-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States