Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In 91 healthy young adults, the use of pranayama yoga increased the speed lungs can exhale by 8.6%.
In a 2015 study (1), 91 healthy subjects (19 men, 72 women) between the ages of 18 and 30 were assigned to 1 of 3 groups for 30 minutes per day, 3 days per week for 12 weeks:
-Slow pranayama (29 subjects) = deep breathing exercises done in 7-minute cycles (2)
-Fast pranayama (32 subjects) = deep breathing exercises done in 6-minute cycles (2)
-Control group (30 subjects)
After 12 weeks, those in the slow pranayama group saw a 8.6% increase a measure of how fast they can exhale, called “peak expiratory flow rate” (296.76 to 322.31 Liters/minute, p < 0.05), and a 4.5% increase in another measure of how fast they are exhaling during the middle part of their exhalation, called “forced expiratory flow rate” (3.52 to 3.68 Liters/second, p < 0.05). In addition, those in the fast pranayama group saw a 16.4% increase peak expiratory flow rate (288.88 to 336.31 Liters/minute, p < 0.001), and a 16.3% increase in forced expiratory flow rate (3.68 to 4.28 Liters/second, p < 0.001). No statistically significant changes were seen in the control group.
When suggesting how pranayama produced these beneficial results, the researchers pointed to a 2006 study (3) showing pranayama yoga to result “in a relaxed state of mind, better subjective well-being and concentration on the task, improved lung ventilation and strength of respiratory muscles.”
For the researchers, “Twelve weeks of pranayama training in young subjects showed improvement in the commonly measured lung tests” and that “pranayama training improved pulmonary function and that this was more pronounced in the fast pranayama group.”
Source: Dinesh, T., et al. “Comparative effect of 12 weeks of slow and fast pranayama training on pulmonary function in young, healthy volunteers: A randomized controlled trial.” International journal of yoga 8.1 (2015): 22-26.
Posted February 10, 2015.
References:
- Dinesh D. Comparative effect of 12 weeks of slow and fast pranayama training on pulmonary function in young, healthy volunteers: A randomized controlled trial. Int J Yoga. 2015 Jan-Jun; 8(1): 22–26. doi: 10.4103/0973-6131.146051
- Sharma VK, Trakroo M, Subramaniam V, Rajajeyakumar M, Bhavanani AB, Sahai A. Effect of fast and slow pranayama on perceived stress and cardiovascular parameters in young health-care students. Int J Yoga. 2013;6:104–10
- Jerath R, Edry JW, Barnes VA, Jerath V. Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: Neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Med Hypotheses. 2006;67:566–71.
