Yoga For Men

Special Yoga

Types Of yoga

Yoga for middle age men

A new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington has found that regular yoga practice may help normal-weight people prevent middle-age spread and may promote weight loss among those who are overweight. The study involved 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women (between the ages of 45 and 55) and measured the impact of yoga on weight, independent of other factors such as diet or other types of physical activity. Researchers found that most people gained about a pound a year between the ages of 45 and 55. However, men and women who were of normal weight at age 45 and practiced yoga regularly (at least 30 minutes once a week for four or more years) gained about three pounds less during that 10-year period. The greatest effect of regular yoga practice was among the overweight. These participants lost about five pounds during the 10-year study, while those that did not do yoga gained an average of 14 pounds. Alan R. Kristal, Dr. P.H., the study’s lead author, suspects that yoga increases body awareness and sensitivity to the feeling fullness, which makes it easier to not overeat. Researchers also speculate that yoga cultivates a form of inner strength, giving participants the ability to resist tempting foods.

YOGA TIPS THAT MAY ENCOURAGE WEIGHT MAINTENANCE OR LOSS

Study co-author and yoga teacher Denise Benitez, owner of Seattle Yoga Arts, offers the following suggestions for enhancing one's yoga practice. These tips may be particularly helpful for those who wish to maintain or lose weight:

Practice in a room without mirrors, and pay more attention to your internal experience than to your outer performance.
Learn to feel sensations more and more subtly, so that you become deeply involved in and curious about small movements, sometimes called micro-movements.
In your poses, find an edge for yourself where you are challenged but not overwhelmed. At this edge, practice maintaining a clear, open and accepting mental state.
Give yourself permission to rest when you feel overworked.
Pay close attention to what you are saying to yourself as you practice, and make an intentional effort to appreciate your own efforts and innate goodness.
Go to class faithfully, arrive early, and talk to a few people in your class before class begins.
Realize that the development of qualities like patience, discipline, wisdom, right effort, kindness, gratitude and many others will arise from your yoga practice. These qualities create a steady and soft mind.

Yoga in Middle Age Linked to Reduced Weight Gain

It is estimated that people ages 45 to 55 gain about one pound a year. In the study, persons whose weight was normal at age 45 and who practiced yoga weekly and for at least four years had a 3.1-pound reduction in expected weight gain, according to investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center here. There was a 12.6-pound gain for non-yoga group versus 9.5 pounds for the yoga group. Strikingly, for those who were already overweight, the total weight gain difference came to 18.5 pounds, showing that some participants in the observational study lost weight. Yoga practitioners who were overweight at age 45 lost an average of five pounds, compared with an average weight gain of 13 pounds over the 10-year period among non-yoga practitioners. Results for the normal weight and overweight group were statistically significant with P for trend <.001. Furthermore, among overweight people, regular yoga practice for more than four years was associated with greater odds of weight loss The odds for maintaining weight were not statistically significant . The association persisted even after accounting for the fact that yoga practitioners were healthier eaters, Alan R. Kristal, Dr. Ph, reported in the July/August issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Yoga may potentially have direct or indirect effects on weight, or both, he said. The research team suggested several possible mechanisms. Yoga does improve exercise capacity," they wrote. More indirectly, yoga promotes a sense of connection with the body, possibly leading to "enhanced awareness of satiety and the discomfort of overeating that may lead to reduced food consumption."

The study involved 15,550 participants recruited to the Vitamin and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study between 2000 and 2002. The participants, ages 53 to 57 when interviewed, were asked to report their exercising habits over the previous 10 years. Using questionnaires, the researchers asked about diet, whether subjects practiced yoga, lifted weights, or walked, and whether their exercise was moderate or vigorous. The subjects were also asked to provide their weight at age 45 and their current weight (about 10 years later). A normal weight was defined as a body mass index of 25 or less; overweight was a BMI of 25 or higher. All measures were based on self-reporting.

yoga middle age medicine

Green tea beneficial in preventing osteoarthritis.
Watch your weight when pregnant.
Stress can make you overweight
Stop smoking and reduce weight
Birth weight key factor in heart diseases
Combination of Clopidogrel-aspirin is better for preventing stroke than only aspirin