Effect of Pranayama on Respiratory Efficiency and Stress Levels in Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

Often, competing, studying and dealing with friends lead adolescent athletes to face high levels of stress. Such stresses may weaken a person’s breathing and lower their performance during exercise. The researchers investigated the effects of a formal pranayama program on respiratory functioning and stress among adolescent athletes aged 13 to 17 years. In the study, 20 participants went to the control group and 20 to the experimental group. The experimental group was taught pranayama, including Anulom Vilom, Bhramari and Kapalabhati, for 30 minutes every day, five days each week, over a period of eight weeks. There were no yogic methods involved in the training of the control group. At baseline, the FVC was 2.63 L for the experimental group which improved to 3.12 L by the end of the intervention (p< 0.05) and their RR fell from 18.2 breaths per minute to 14.1 (p< 0.01). In the experimental group, the scores on PSS fell substantially (from 24.5 to 14.7, p< 0.001), showing a big decrease in perceived stress. Regular practice of pranayama appears to be helpful for improving the pulmonary system and lowering stress in adolescent athletes. Pranayama can be a helpful method, cost little and does not involve medicine, to improve breathing and positive thinking in young athletes.