Small Study Demonstrates Yoga’s Potential for enhancing post-exercise recovery

Image: Albert Law, Adobe Stock

Exercise is generally speaking good for your immune system. Long-term, exercise is known to protect against inflammation, chronic disease, and possibly protect you from getting acute illnesses like the flu and common cold. However, there is a short period post-exercise where immune system markers such as NK (natural killer) cells, a.k.a. white cells that attack infected and harmful cells, are suppressed. A small, recent study published in Physiology International conducted on a group of seven men found that practicing yoga for 30 minutes after a bout of high-intensity exercise (60 minutes at 75% V02 Max) decreased NK cell suppression post-exercise by activating the body’s rest and digest function (parasympathetic nervous system). The study is very small, so there is a lot of room for more accurate findings, but it demonstrates potential for post-workout yoga sessions to enhance exercise recovery efforts.