Use of a 'pose rate' to quantify yoga

Area of Science:

• Exercise Science
• Kinesiology
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Yoga is a popular physical activity with diverse styles.
• Quantifying the physical activity intensity of different yoga styles is challenging.
• Existing research often lacks objective measures for yoga's physical demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for describing physical activity in yoga.
• To compare physical activity characteristics across three yoga video categories: weight loss, beginner, and stress relief/meditation.

Main Methods:

• Content analysis of 22 commercially available yoga videos.
• Recorded yoga routine characteristics: duration, number of poses, body position, and pose rate.
• Statistical comparison of these characteristics across the three video categories.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in routine duration across categories.
• Weight loss yoga videos had significantly more poses and a higher pose rate compared to beginner and stress relief/meditation videos.
• Weight loss routines featured more standing poses and fewer seated/supine poses than other categories.

Conclusions:

• Yoga video categories differ significantly in total poses, pose rate, and standing pose prevalence.
• These characteristics may serve as objective measures of physical activity intensity in yoga.
• Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore variations across diverse yoga styles.