Motion Pattern of the Healthy Yoga Practitioner – Kinetics and Kinematics of the Lower Extremity During Three Yoga Postures and Comparison to Three Activitiesm of Daily Living

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish a motion pattern by characterizing the kinetics and kinematics associated with the hip, knee and ankle joint of a group of healthy yoga teachers when performing three yoga postures and comparing them to three activities of daily living (ADL). A group of experienced female yoga practitioners (n = 13), with a minimum of 5 years teaching experience, between the ages of 20 to 45, performed the Lunge, Warrior II, and Triangle poses starting from Downward Dog. The kinetic and kinematic data of the yoga practitioners was collected when performing yoga postures. The step length, joint angles, range of motion (ROM), joint moments, and angular impulse in sagittal and frontal plane were studied for the hip, knee and ankle during performance. The data were averaged, descriptive statistics of the measures were obtained, and results for each posture as well as for the average yoga practice were presented in tables and figures with standard deviation. The percentages of change and effect sizes were calculated to compare yoga movements to ADL. The stride lengths were similar in the Lunge (1.98m), Warrior II (1.51m), and Triangle (1.43m). The motion patterns of the Lunge and the Warrior II poses follow similar joint angle and joint moment, and angular impulse patterns, whereas the Triangle pose creates distinctly different patterns in most joints and planes. In the Lunge and Warrior II poses, the knee joint reaches a maximal flexion angle of 73.76° and 67.69° respectively, 18% to 32% less than what is classically instructed in a yoga class. The knee reached 9.5° of extension while in Triangle pose. The hip contributed 50-70% of the angular impulse in the lower limb in all three yoga movements. When comparing to ADL, ROM was only greater in the hip in of sagittal plane motion and in the knee if frontal plane motion, and most of the joint moments of the lower extremity were notably smaller