Gharu Yuvraj, Sanjay Dhiman, Puja Negi, Lavinder, Asha Negi, Amit Sachdeva
BACKGROUND Yoga is an ancient Indian Philosophy. Recent interest in Yoga is due to its beneficial effects on the various systems of the body and the way by which yoga exerts these effects. Yogic exercises when practiced regularly have shown to improve health and wellbeing. The present study was planned to find effects of 8 weeks Yoga practice on pulmonary functions in adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was an quasi experimental study which was conducted in Sarswati Vidya Mandir School, Vikasnagar, Shimla in coordination with department of physiology on 60 male students between the age of 14-17 years. They had to perform the yogic practices daily from 6am to 7am for about one hour. The observations were recorded by MEDSPIROR, in the form of vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV-l), FEV1/VC, FEV1/FVC, Forced Expiratory Flow (FEF) 25-75%, FEF 75-85% and Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR ) on day-1, after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of the yoga practice. RESULTS The study revealed that the Pulmonary Functions Tests (PFT) parameters like PEFR, FEF 75-85% were significantly increased at the end of 4 weeks of training but the PFT like VC, FVC, and FEV1/FVC were significantly increased at the end of eight weeks of training of yoga among school going adolescents of Shimla city. CONCLUSION From this study, we conclude that the yogic exercises are beneficial for the better maintenance of body functions, particularly pulmonary functions like VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/VC, FEV1/FVC, PEFR, FEF 25-75%, FEF 75-85%. So, yoga practice for 8 weeks can be advocated to improve respiratory efficiency in adolescents.
