The effects of yoga training and a single bout of yoga on delayed onset muscle soreness in the lower extremity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of yoga training and a single bout of yoga on the intensity of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). 24 yoga-trained (YT; n = 12) and non-yoga-trained (CON; n = 12), matched women volunteers were administered a DOMS-inducing bench-stepping exercise. Muscle soreness was assessed at baseline, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after bench-stepping using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Groups were also compared on body awareness (BA), flexibility using the sit-and-reach test (SR), and perceived exertion (RPE). Statistical significance was accepted at p </= 0.05. A 2 x 2 mixed factorial ANOVA with repeated measures at 24 and 48 hours revealed a significant (p < 0.05) group main effect with VAS scores greater for CON than YT. Paired t-tests revealed that in YT, VAS scores were higher before yoga class than after yoga class at 24 hours (21.4 [+/- 6.9] mm vs. 11.1 [+/- 4.1] mm; p = 0.02). The SR was greater in YT than in CON (65.0 [+/- 7.9] cm vs. 33.3 [+/- 7.0] cm; p < 0.01); however, no differences were found between yoga and control in BA (94.0 [+/- 4.4] units vs. 83.8 [+/- 3.7] units; p = 0.21) or in RPE at 5-minute intervals (2.9 [+/- 0.3], 5.3 [+/- 0.8], 5.8 [+/- 0.9], and 5.2 [+/- 0.8] vs. 2.5 [+/- 0.3], 4.0 [+/- 0.5], 4.2 [+/- 0.3], and 4.9 [+/- 0.4]. Yoga training and a single bout of yoga appear to attenuate peak muscle soreness in women following a bout of eccentric exercise. These findings have significant implications for coaches, athletes, and the exercising public who may want to implement yoga training as a preseason regimen or supplemental activity to lessen the symptoms associated with muscle soreness.