Effects of Yoga for Muscle Mass, Flexibility and Balance in Middle-Aged and Elderly People

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of yoga exercise on the increase of skeletal muscle mass and prevention of falling. We examined the change in muscle mass（whole body, trunk and limbs）, hamstring flexibility and balance ability in middle-aged and older people through our original yoga program. This study comprised 25 participants（average age 69.4 years old）. This yoga class was held once every other week for 3 months（6 sessions in total）. We measured muscle mass（whole body, trunk and limbs）, fat mass, Timed Up & Go test（TUG）, Straight Leg Raising test（SLR）and one-leg standing test with eyes open at the first and final sessions. We also collected and aggregated responses from the ADL test, Falls efficacy scale and POMS2 questionnaire at the second and fifth sessions. As a result, whole-body and trunk muscle mass increased and fat mass decreased significantly（p＜0.02, p＜0.01, respectively）and SLR increased significantly（p＜0.05）. Total Mood Disturbance scores（POMS-TMD）decreased during this study. In conclusion, our original yoga program contributed to increases in muscle mass and hamstring flexibility and had favorable psychological effects.