Acute changes in urinary metabolites: vinyasa yoga compared to cycle ergometer exercise

Increased interest in unconventional exercise such as vinyasa yoga has outpaced our understanding of the physiological response to yoga exercise. The objective of the current study was to evaluate changes in urinary metabolites (i.e., alanine, phenylalanine, glycine, choline, taurine, creatinine, creatine, dimethylamine, citrate, pyruvate, acetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate) elicited by vinyasa yoga compared to moderate intensity aerobic exercise in young healthy adults.

Twelve participants, six women and six men, completed a vinyasa yoga exercise session (VY) and a moderate intensity cycle ergometer exercise session (ME) in a sequential fashion. The intensity of the ME was matched to heart rate and rating of perceived exertion elicited during the initial VY. Urine samples were collected at baseline and following the completion of each of VY and ME. Metabolite concentrations after each exercise were normalized to their baseline levels to obtain a relative exercise-induced change in concentration. We hypothesized that activation of large muscle groups in the lower extremities would foster greater ME-induced alterations in metabolites.

Exercise-induced changes in urinary concentrations of phenylalanine, creatinine, creatine, glycine, choline, taurine, dimethylamine, citrate, pyruvate, alanine, and beta-hydroxybutyrate were greater in ME compared to VY (P < 0.05). There was no difference between the exercise-induced changes in lactate between groups (P < 0.05).

The results of this study demonstrate that ME promotes more robust changes in urinary metabolites compared to VY. These differences may be due to a greater localized workload on the large muscle groups of the lower extremities during ME, and potentially highlight the distributed metabolic demand of VY.