Here’s a major incentive to take to the concept of hot yoga: It could maybe help lower blood pressure, a new study suggests.
Norma, room-temperature yoga has already been discovered to have a positive impact on blood pressure. But a new study at Texas State University in San Marcos said little was known about hot yoga – which is usually done in a humid atmosphere, at room temperatures ranging around 105 degrees.
So, the researchers undertook 10 men and women between the ages of 20 and 65 as samples. The samples had high BP or BP that was considered elevated or at the initial stage of hypertension. Elevated is when systolic, or when topmost measurement, is between 120 and 129, and diastolic, or bottom number when it is below 80.
Studies suggest: Hot yoga can solve blood pressure issues
They were not visiting any doctor or undertaking any blood pressure medication and had not been in a regular physical fitness routine for more than six months. Researchers by the roll of dice assigned five participants to take hot yoga classes three times a week, each for one hour. The other five had no yoga classes at all.
After 12 weeks, the hot yoga group’s systolic blood pressure went below from an average of 126 at the study’s start to 121 after 12 weeks. Their average diastolic pressure reduced from 82 to 79.
Those who did not take classes discovered no change.
The yoga group also saw a reduction of apparent stress levels; the non-yoga group did not.
“The analysis of our results start the concept that hot yoga could be extremely feasible and very effective in terms of lowering blood pressure without any medical treatment,” study author Stacy Hunter said in a press statement.
She is a deputy professor and lab director of the cardiovascular physiology lab at Texas State. “However, more studies need to be done before we can say with assurance that hot yoga has a positive effect on blood pressure.”
