瑜伽塑身遭专家批驳

Encouraged by A-listers such as Trudie Styler and Christy Turlington, who claim they owe their perfectly honed bodies to yoga, around half a million of us now regularly attend yoga classes.

被众多一线女星例如托蒂·斯特拉和克里斯蒂·特林顿所宣扬的瑜伽可以锻炼身体这一理论所鼓舞，我们当中大约一百万的人现在都定期的参加瑜伽课程。

And the popularity of yoga shows no signs of waning, with the growth rate set to reach 25 per cent this year. But, last week, one of Britain’s leading fitness experts, celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts, suggested that yoga isn’t doing much for our fitness levels, at all.

瑜伽的流行似乎一直都没有衰退的迹象，并且今年以百分之二十五的速度增长。但是，上一周，一位英国顶尖的健康专家，有名的私人教练，马特·罗伯茨，提出说其实瑜伽对于我们健康基本是没有什么用的。

‘You may feel that you are keeping fit by doing a weekly yoga class, but you aren’t,’ Roberts said. ‘The reason why everyone likes yoga is that it isn’t very hard.

“你感觉你好像因为上了一周的瑜伽课变得更加健康了，但是实际上并没有。”罗伯茨说，“每个人都那么喜欢瑜伽是因为它看起来很简单。”

‘Yes, there are individual parts of your body that are being worked hard, but with every form of exercise you should ask yourself is it intensive enough? Is my heartbeat raised? Am I out of breath and sweating for at least 25 to 30 minutes at a time? The answer when you’re doing yoga is, I suspect, no.’

“当然，其实你身体的某些部分可能非常努力的运转了，但是在面对不同种类的运动时你应该问问自己这个运动强度够了么？我的心跳增加了么？我每一次在25至30分钟的运动后都气喘吁吁汗流浃背了么？我猜测，这个答案对于做瑜伽的你来说是否定的。”

His comments will undoubtedly unsettle yoga enthusiasts everywhere. Yet, Roberts isn’t alone in suggesting that yoga offers less of a workout than we have been led to believe.

无疑，他的答案将会大大的打击瑜伽热爱者。但是，罗伯茨并不是唯一一个说瑜伽其实是没有我们所相信的那样的健身效果的人。

John Brewer, professor of sports science at the University of Bedfordshire, is keen to debunk the myth that celebrities achieve their streamlined appearance solely through endless sessions on a yoga mat.

约翰·布鲁尔，贝德福德大学体育科学系的教授，非常热衷于揭露那些名人所说的仅仅依靠瑜伽就可以达到塑身目的的这一说法。

‘You just can’t achieve weight loss and a high level of fitness through doing yoga alone,’ he says. ‘These people probably devote hours a day to running, cycling, the gym and do yoga on top of that for its relaxation and flexibility benefits.’

“你仅仅依靠瑜伽是不能达到减重和锻炼身体的目的的，”他说，“这些人可能每天花数小时来跑步，骑自行车或者去健身房，做瑜伽来达到他减压和锻炼的效果。”

Brewer says that other than leaving you with better balance and flexibility, yoga doesn’t provide too many benefits, because the most important muscle in the body is the heart and this workout doesn’t really work the cardiovascular system at all.

布鲁尔说,除了让你有了更好的平衡和灵活性,瑜伽不能提供太多福利,因为最重要的肌肉对于人类来说还是心脏，而且瑜伽并不能锻炼到真正工作的心血管系统。

Quite how limited a workout yoga provides was put to the test when the U.S. consumer watchdog, the American Council on Exercise (ACE), commissioned researchers at the University of Wisconsin’s human performance laboratory to investigate its fitness benefits.

到底瑜伽能带来多少好处，美国健康协会将其作为一项实验在威斯康星大学人为表现实验室展开了调查。

What the exercise scientists found was surprising. In their trial, a group of 34 previously sedentary women were asked to take part either in three 55-minute hatha yoga classes — the most popular variety in the West — a week for two months, or to abstain from exercise altogether.

实验的结果让科学家们十分惊讶。在实验中，一组34名之前常常久坐的女性被要求学习西方最流行的哈塔瑜伽，每周3次每次55分钟坚持两个月，或是直接放弃这次试验。

‘You get changes in strength and muscular endurance, flexibility and balance — all those types of things — but, in order to improve aerobic capacity, essentially the efficiency of your heart and lungs, you really need to be working in the training zone where your heart rate reaches 70 to 80 per cent of your maximum,’ says Professor John Porcari, who led the study. ‘Based on what we found, the intensity just wasn’t there.’

“你会发现他们的肌肉忍耐力，灵活性和平衡性都有了很大的变化。但是，为了提高你心肺对于氧气的需求量，你需要呆在能使你到达你最大心跳值百分之七十至八十的训练区。”指导实验的约翰·波卡尼教授说，“根据我们所发现的，强度似乎还不够。”

Many yoga fans argue that they don’t do yoga simply for fitness or weight loss. Some claim that it eases back pain by keeping their spines supple and strengthening the muscles that support it. But what’s the evidence?

很多瑜伽迷说他们做瑜伽不仅仅是为了保持健康和减肥。一些人说做瑜伽能通过让他们的脊柱变得柔软并拉伸背部肌肉以达到缓解背部的疼痛的目的。但是证据呢？

In a study published by U.S. musculoskeletal specialist Dr Karen Sherman, it was shown that a gentle yoga class seemed a better alternative to ‘either general exercise or a self-help book’ for back pain. But, worryingly, Dr Sherman also found that more vigorous types of yoga, such as ashtanga, and classes led by poorly qualified instructors, could make problems worse.

美国肌骨骼专家卡伦·谢尔曼博士的研究表明，相对温和的瑜伽课似乎对缓解背部疼痛是有帮助的。但是，令人担心的是，谢尔曼博士发现很多相对激烈的瑜伽，例如阿斯汤加瑜伽，这种课程由非常不专业的老师进行教授，这样可能会使问题更加糟糕。

‘People should be careful about doing yoga when they have bad back pain,’ says Matt Todman, consultant physiotherapist at Six Physio in London’s Harley Street. ‘It can be helpful in some cases, but many of the postures place strain on the back.’

“人们背疼的时候做瑜伽应该格外小心，”在伦敦哈利街六队医的理疗咨询师马特·陶德曼说，“有时候瑜伽确实有帮助，但是它的很多姿势其实是让背部承受了巨大的压力。”

‘If you feel any pain you should stop or if you have any pre-existing physical vulnerability, then you should always get medical advice before trying it,’ he says. ‘Yoga can reduce stress levels. But anyone who thinks they are going to get in shape sitting in the lotus position or any other pose is deluded. They should jump off their mat and go for a run if it’s pounds they are looking to lose.’

“如果你感觉到疼你就应该立刻停止，或者你之前有受过什么伤，你就应该在做瑜伽之前咨询一下专业医师。”他说，“瑜伽确实能减少压力，但是要是有人觉得我就通过保持莲花坐的形式就能达到塑身的目的，这绝对是骗人的。他们应该跳出这样的惯性思维，然后多看看，看看他们是不是真的需要减肥。”