London - If you’re not too keen about building up a sweat to get fit, there’s some good news.
It turns out that the peaceful and gentle activity of yoga is as good for the heart as cycling.
An analysis of dozens of studies into the impact of the ancient Eastern art concluded it has numerous health benefits. Yoga leads to weight loss, lowers bad cholesterol and cuts blood pressure.
The improvements were on a par with those seen in people who did conventional exercise such as cycling and brisk walking. In some cases, it worked even better than prescription pills.
Regular yoga sessions may even make it easier to quit smoking. The researchers aren’t sure why yoga is so effective but say the combination of exercise and stress relief may be key.
The finding is important because it suggests that those who are too old or unwell to do conventional exercise could practise yoga to keep their heart healthy.
The research involved more than 37 studies and included 2 700 people. Men and women prescribed yoga as part of a study lost more weight than those who did no extra exercise.
Those doing yoga for an average of three months also saw their blood pressure fall and levels of bad cholesterol drop, the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology reports.
In one trial involving those at risk of heart problems, blood pressure dropped almost three times as much when doing yoga compared to when taking pills.
Yoga also helped patients who already had heart disease and were being treated for it.
The analysis concluded yoga was as good as conventional physical activity in improving heart health.
Researcher Myriam Hunink, of Erasmus University in the Netherlands and Harvard University in the US, said: “Yoga may provide the same benefits in risk factor reduction as traditional physical activity such as cycling or brisk walking.”
She added that yoga may improve quality of life more than other forms of exercise, by easing stress and anxiety.
Britain’s National Health Service says people are never too old to take up yoga, with classes available for every age group. Those who can’t easily sit down on the floor can do chair-based yoga.
Maureen Talbot, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The benefits could be due to working the muscles and breathing, which can bring more oxygen into the body, leading to lower blood pressure.”
Yoga means “union” in Sanskrit and fuses physical, mental and spiritual elements.
Bikram yoga is done in a heated studio to cleanse the body of toxins and loosen muscles
Hatha yoga is the most widely practised in the West. Slow-paced classes combine physical exercises and postures, with meditation.
Ashtanga yoga is fast-paced and physically demanding. It involves constantly moving through a set sequence of poses while synchronising breathing. – Daily Mail