Regular exercise is good for cardiovascular health and an individual’s well-being. However, a new study on hypertension patients published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology has shown that adding yoga to your regular physical exercise routine could be more effective than aerobics.
Yoga can help improve heart health.
For many individuals worldwide, yoga is a component of their spiritual and physical routines. Yoga studios are expanding as yoga practice spreads as a popular form of physical activity. It is a comprehensive form of exercise that can improve cardiovascular health and general well-being. Strength training and the physical aspects of yoga share many commonalities as well as significant variances.
Lead study researcher Paul Poirier of Quebec Heart and Lung Institute- Laval University said their pilot study aimed to determine if adding yoga to a normal exercise routine can reduce cardiovascular risk. Poirier added that although physical exercise and yoga have almost the same cardiovascular results, there is significant variability in different types of yoga, frequency, elements, intensity, duration, and session length.
The study recruited 60 individuals with metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure for an exercise training regimen and divided them into two groups. They measured blood pressure, lipids and glucose levels, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, anthropometry and Framingham and Reynolds Risk Scores. Individuals underwent a three-month regimen, with individuals engaging in structured yoga and physical exercise.
Yoga reduced systolic blood pressure by ten mmHg
After three months there was a decrease in heart rate, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, and median arterial blood pressure. However, stretching only decreased systolic blood pressure by four mmHg, whereas yoga lowered it by ten mmHg. Additionally, the yoga method decreased Reynold’s 10-year cardiovascular risk score and resting heart rate.
Yoga has demonstrated a role in helping hypertension patients, although the precise mechanism by which it does so is still unclear. This preliminary randomized trial demonstrates that stretching can account for its positive effects. In addition, the study offers evidence for additional non-pharmacological therapy alternatives for blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk reduction in hypertension patients.
