Yogasana and pranayama practice promotes physiological functions in male adolescents: a randomized controlled trial

Yoga has been investigated in relation to a variety of topics with focus in the reduction of symptoms of various illnesses and disorders. There has been limited research regarding yoga.s effect on physiological functions in adolescents. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects of Yoga and Pranayama practice on physiological capacities of male adolescents. The Subjects for the study were adolescent boys studying between 13 to 16 years. Total 80 Subjects studying at a private school were selected through simple random sampling technique for the present investigation. 40 subjects each were placed in treatment as well as control group. All the subjects selected for this study were tested twice prior to treatment (pre-test) and at the conclusion of treatment (post-test) with a time gap of 24 weeks. Selected physiological capability parameters and testing tools were used in the present investigation. Treatment in the form of selected yogic asana along with pranayama was given to selected subjects in the specified treatment group. Twenty four weeks of training included systematic yogasana and pranayama training for six days in a week. In order to examine the hypothesis of the study paired samples t. test was used. There were significant differences in aerobic capacity and resting heart rate during pre test and post test of experimental group was 77.71and 92.89 respectively, whereas the differences in mean was not significant in control group during pre test and post test situations. In case of anaerobic capacity, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure although there were significant differences in pre and post test scores of experimental as well as control groups. On the basis of the present investigation it can be concluded that the physiological functions significantly improves in terms of aerobic capacity and heart rate in adolescent boys following yoga training