Yoga may be a stress buster and a fat blaster, says new research presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2004 conference.
In one of the few studies comparing weight lifting with yoga, the University of Pittsburgh researchers put 59 obese, inactive women, ages 25 to 55, on a low-fat diet. Everyone walked for 40 minutes 5 days a week; a third of the volunteers did additional strength-training exercises, and another third added a yoga routine three days a week. After four months, the yoga devotees dropped an average of 27 pounds; the strength trainers whittled away 23, and the walking-only group lost 20. Study author Kara Gallagher, PhD, an exercise physiologist, warns that the differences aren’t significant enough to conclude that yoga is better than dumbbells. But it is a soothing option with a surprising power to fend off excess pounds.
Source: Health & Nutrition