Chronic low back pain (CLBP), which has a close relationship with lumbar muscle degeneration, can be effectively treated by exercise therapy, and yoga has been widely accepted by clinicians and patients with CLBP.

The purpose of this study was to observe the changes in the thickness of lumbodorsal muscles that occur during locust pose in yoga and how these changes occur.

From the changes in muscle thickness that occur in the locust pose, the contractile function of lumbodorsal muscles can be evaluated.

Fifty-two healthy volunteers (from May 2019 to August 2019, age from 28 to 68 years, 23 males and 29 females (age: 40 ± 8 years; weight: 68.3 ± 5.2 kg; height: 170.2 ± 13.1 cm) were recruited, and lumbodorsal muscle, including the multifidus, longissimus, iliocostalis, and quadratus lumborum, ultrasonic examinations were carried out in the relaxed and contracted states.

The changes in the thickness of the lumbodorsal muscles in the relaxed and contracted states were dynamically observed by real-time ultrasound when subjects were performing the locust yoga pose.

Then, the thicknesses of the muscles during the two states were measured to calculate the ratio of contraction of each muscle and determine the statistical significance of the change in thickness of each muscle.