Aerobic exercise and yoga showed no clear difference in menstrual pain
Both supervised groups reported less pain over time. Aerobic exercise produced a larger improvement in functional capacity, but the trial did not establish that the approaches were equivalent.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Menstrual pain decreased over time in both groups, and the trial did not detect a significant difference between aerobic exercise and yoga for pain. Aerobic exercise improved functional capacity more. Because the comparison involved active programs, these results do not establish how either approach compares with receiving no exercise intervention.
The trial was small and lacked an inactive comparison group. Nonsignificant differences in pain and other outcomes do not demonstrate equivalence, and the abstract reports no pain effect size.
What researchers found
Menstrual pain severity on a visual analog scale
Aerobic exercise versus yoga after training over 2 menstrual cycles, assessed during the following 2 cycles; p > 0.05.
Pain was the main outcome
Researchers made menstrual pain severity the primary endpoint. They also assessed menstrual distress, emotional symptoms, blood flow, functional capacity, quality of life, and other measures; most between-group comparisons were not statistically significant.
What improved more
Functional capacity was the exception: it increased more with aerobic exercise. The abstract does not provide the size of that difference, so its practical importance cannot be assessed from this summary alone.
The original publication
A comparison of the effects of aerobic exercise and yoga training in primary dysmenorrhea: a single-blind randomized clinical trial.
Çinar GN, Mümüşoğlu S, Akbayrak T et al.
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41319514
- Record checked
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