Effect of Yogic Breathing Manoeuvre on Pulmonary Function and VO2 Max in Male Football Players

Introduction: Yoga has proven to improve spiritual as well as psychophysiological behaviour of a human being. This helps them to perform better in their game improving abdominal strength and gives benefits to every player's need. It also helps improve both physical and mental health. Aim: To analyse the effects of yogic breathing manoeuvre on pulmonary functions and VO2 max in male football players. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Department of Physiotherapy, School of Physiotherapy at D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, from February 2019 to February 2020. The study included 60 male players within the age group from 18-25 years with at least 2 years of experience. They were divided into two groups group A was experimental group and group B was control group. Group A performed pranayama along with routine football specific training and group B performed only football specific training for six weeks. Pre and post values for pulmonary functions and VO2 max were taken by Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and Queens College step test as outcome measures. The data was analysed using Independent t-test. Results: Mean age of group A and group B was 19.7 +/- 1.69 years and 20.6 +/- 1.89 years, respectively. After doing yogic breathing maneuvers for 6 weeks, there was a significant (p-value<0.001) improvement in pulmonary function and VO2 max values in male football players for experimental group as compared to control group. The mean difference for Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) was 0.3% and 0.13% and for VO2 max was 0.71 mL/kg/min and 2.71 mL/kg/min for control and experimental group respectively. Conclusion: Implementing regular practice of yogic breathing manoeuvre along with football training improves pulmonary functions of the football players.