EVALUATION

"Yoga is not for the flexible. It's for the willing."

EVALUATION

When I measured my ROM using a goniometer during my initial straight leg raise test (before engaging myself into Yoga), it measured: 

• Hip Flexion (Knee Straight): 0-90 degrees
• Hip Abduction: 0-80 degrees
• Hip Extension: 0-50 degrees

However, after doing the 5-day Yoga exercise (I did it for two weeks!) that I have prepared to improve my flexibility, these were the results when measured by a goniometer:

• Hip Flexion (Knee Straight): 0-110 degrees
• Hip Abduction: 0-90 degrees
• Hip Extension: 0-70 degrees

These results (the before and the after) are actually not normal, this shows that my joints in these areas are hypermobile, which means that my joints have an unusuall large range of movement and I can move my limbs into positions others find impossible. This is most probably caused by my several years of dancing ballet. 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I am not new to Yoga. Apparently, I have enrolled myself in Yoga classes before to improve my scoliosis and my posture as well. However, I really have longed to improve my leg extensions for me to dance a lot better and to look good on stage. So, I took the opportunity during this enhanced community quarantine to improve my flexibility. The poses that I chose were those, according to my research, that enhance one's "stretchiness". The last time I stretched that well was a month ago, during the day of our Contemporary Dance competition, and the days after, all my leg muscles were hardly stretched. During my first day, I admit that I was kind of having a hard time holding the position since I could really feel my hamstrings stretch! But after doing the exercises for 3 sets, I really felt good (my legs most especially). The next day, I woke up in the morning and I could feel that my hamstrings were sore. But I told myself it's fine, it just means that I did the exercises correctly and that they were effective. Day after day, the intensity and difficulty of my Yoga exercises were increasing each day but it's really fulfilling in my part to finish all those. As they say, no pain no gain. I really enjoyed doing all those exercises, each of them was really interesting and satisfying to do. Through my research, I have discovered that they do not only act on one's flexibility but also improve our body's different systems, which make the Yoga exercise a holistic one. Two weeks have passed and I have accomplished my Yoga fitness plan, and it was time to measure my improvement through a straight leg raise test (SLR test). As I asked my brother to assist me in measuring my hip flexion with a goniometer, the result showed 0-110 degrees. This means my flexibility improved by 20 degrees! My experience proves that engaging oneself in Yoga really does the job if you want to be more flexible.

RELATED ARTICLES

1ST STUDY

Over a 10-week period, a yoga group of 14 athletes took part in biweekly yoga sessions; while a nonyoga group (NYG) of 12 athletes took part in no additional yoga activity. Performance measures were obtained immediately before and after this period. Measurements of flexibility and balance, included: Sit-reach, shoulder flexibility, and stork stand; dynamic measurements consisted of joint angles measured during the performance of three distinct yoga positions (downward dog; right foot lunge; chair).

The intended purpose of this quasi-experiment was to emphasize the impact yoga may have on specific components of fitness on athletes. In conclusion, the athletes who practiced yoga for 10 weeks demonstrated the improvement in both flexibility and balance measures by an increased ROM.

2ND STUDY

The program included therapeutic yoga exercises done 2x a week over 5 months to increase joint mobility and stretchshortened skeletal muscles. The results showed significant increase of mobility and ROM in elevation through abduction, shoulder retroflexion, hip flexion, IR/ER hip rotation, dorsal flexion and ankle inversion. The mobility of the TL part of the spine was  increased. There was also a significant improvement in the flexibility of several muscles and body flexibility confirmed by the “Back Scratch Test” and the “Sit and Reach Test”. This study concluded that improved body flexibility is one of the most obvious and quickly achieved effects of regular hatha yoga practice. This confirms that regular practice of yoga has a significant effect on body flexibility in young healthy women, which is particularly obvious in measurements of the increase of the flexibility of skeletal muscles.

3RD STUDY

In this particular study, the main focus was to determine if yoga has any additional effect on the flexibility and balance of shooting game athletes despite of their regular forms of training. Participants of yoga group also had higher flexibility than the participants of non-yoga group. Thus, 6 weeks of practicing yoga did help to improve flexibility ROM measures in the actively training athletes while warm up stretching did not. Taking part in yoga session alongside with the traditional training methods has helped to improve flexibility and balance among shooting trainee athletes. Thus, yoga may support to enhance performance of those athletes by increasing specific components of fitness.

The three different related literatures that I have presented altogether prove that yoga indeed improves flexibility through the use of specific poses that target flexibility and balance. There are other several studies that confirm this such as: (1) A study assigned 66 elderly participants to either practice yoga or calisthenics, a type of body weight exercise. After one year, total flexibility of the yoga group increased by nearly four times that of the calisthenics group; and (2) A 2013 study also found that practicing yoga could help improve balance and mobility in older adults. Lastly, based on research, practicing just 15–30 minutes of yoga each day could make a big difference for those looking to enhance performance by increasing flexibility and balance. 

In addition, through my research, I also have discovered that yoga does not only improve flexibility but it still has a wide array of benefits such as stress and anxiety relief; reduce inflammation and chronic pain; enhances heart health and breathing; fight depression and migrains; improve overall quality of life; promote healthy eating habits; and increase balance and strength. Indeed, yoga induces benefits beyond the mat and does more than burn calories and tone and stretch muscles. It is a total mind-body workout that combines strengthening and stretching poses with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation.

PLAN OF CARE, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

My Goals and Objectives:

• To increase the flexibility of my muscles involved in hip flexion, hip abduction, and hip extension.
• To improve my range of motion, especially that of my hip flexion with knee straight, within the next 6 months.
• To reach 140 degrees of hip flexion with knee straight within the next 6 months.
• To perform the yoga poses smoothly and without any difficulty and pain at all.
• To reach my eye level when kicking my leg in front; to reach my ear level when kicking my leg at the side; and to reach the level of my occipital protuberance when kicking to the back.
• To sustain the exercise or yoga poses even with increased time and repetition.
• To regularly do the fitness plan and not miss any day or session.
• To see visible improvement with regards to my flexibility and yoga performance every two weeks.

Plan of Care: 

1) Do the same exercises in the fitness plan everyday for 2 weeks. It will consume about 15-30 minutes of your time.

2) During the 3rd week, increase the number of seconds by 10s to hold the yoga pose. Do this from Week 3 until Week 6.

• Day 1: 30 seconds
• Day 2-3: 40 seconds
• Day 4-5: 50 seconds

3) During the 7th week, increase again the number of seconds by 10s to hold the yoga pose. Do thus from Week 7 until Week 10.

• Day 1: 40 seconds
• Day 2-3: 50 seconds
• Day 4-5: 60 seconds

4) During the 11th week, it is now time to increase the number of repetitions in performing the yoga poses by 1 rep. Thus, do 4 repetitions per exercise each day but still follow the number of seconds stated in #3. Maintain this from Week 11 until Week 14. 

5) During the 15th week, increase again the number of repetitions in performing the yoga poses by another 1 rep. Thus, do 5 repetitions per exercise each day while following the number of seconds stated in #3. Maintain this from Week 15 until the end of the 6-month program.

Disclaimer: All gifs in this post are taken from the internet and belong to their rightful and respective owners

Check the full article of the studies here:

• Polsgrove, M. J., Eggleston, B. M., & Lockyer, R. J. (2016). Impact of 10-weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728955/
• Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319347014_Effects_of_yoga_on_flexibility_and_balance_a_quasi-experimental_study
• Maja, Vauhnik, R., & Jakovljević, M. (2014, April 11). The Impact of Hatha Yoga Practice on Flexibility: A Pilot Study. Retrieved from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-impact-of-hatha-yoga-practice-on-flexibility-a-pilot-study-2327-5162.1000160.php?aid=25281
• Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-benefits-of-yoga#section8