Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the effects of hatha yoga training on health related physical fitness variables including muscular Strength, Agility, Power, Speed and Cardiovascular Endurance. Thirty randomly selected male students of department of physical education (T) Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Punjab, India) aged 18 –24 years, volunteered to participate in the study. Subjects were assigned into two groups: A (experimental: N-15) and B (control: N-15). The subjects from Group A were subjected to an 8-week hatha yoga training programme. Each yoga session consisted of 10 minutes of pranayamas, 15 minutes of dynamic warm-up exercises, 40 minutes of asanas and 5 minutes of supine relaxation in savasana. The subjects were evaluated pre and post the 8-week training program. Student’s t-test was used to assess the between-group differences for dependent data to assess the Post-Pre differences. Results indicated that the health related physical fitness variables including muscular Strength, Agility, Power (p<0.01) and Speed (p<0.05) significantly improved in group A compared with the control one. There was non-significant imrovement found in experimental group for cardiovascular endurance. These findings indicate that regular hatha yoga practice can elicit improvements in the health-related aspects of physical fitness and may contribute to enhance health status and wellness. Verf.-Referat