Effect of Regular Yoga Practice on Respiratory Regulation and Exercise Performance

Yoga alters spontaneous respiratory regulation and reduces hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory responses. Since a lower ventilatory response is associated with an improved endurance capacity during whole-body exercise, we tested whether yogic subjects (YOGA) show an increased endurance capacity compared to matched non-yogic individuals (CON) with similar physical activity levels. Resting ventilation, the ventilatory response to hypercapnia, passive leg movement and exercise, as well as endurance performance were assessed. YOGA (n = 9), compared to CONTROL (n = 6), had a higher tidal volume at rest (0.7 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.5 +/- 0.1 l, p = 0.034) and a reduced ventilatory response to hypercapnia (33 +/- 15 vs. 47 +/- 15 l.min(-1), p = 0.048). A YOGA subgroup (n = 6) with maximal performance similar to CONTROL showed a blunted ventilatory response to passive cycling (11 +/- 2 vs. 14 +/- 2 l.min(-1), p = 0.039) and a tendency towards lower exercise ventilation (33 +/- 2 vs. 36 +/- 3 l.min(-1), p = 0.094) while cycling endurance (YOGA: 17.3 +/- 3.3; CON: 19.6 +/- 8.5 min, p = 0.276) did not differ. Thus, yoga practice was not associated with improved exercise capacity nor with significant changes in exercise ventilation despite a significantly different respiratory regulation at rest and in response to hypercapnia and passive leg movement.