Supervised Yoga Exercise Training and Balance in College Students

Purpose:

Balance is a vital component of efficient motor response. It is important in everyday movement patterns and standing, as well as selected sports skills. Yoga practice has documented therapeutic benefits, including reduced anxiety, improved muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility. However, few controlled interventional studies have been seen on balance affected by supervised yoga exercise program. The purpose of this study was to determine if an 8-week programmed yoga exercise training would effectively influence on balance among college students with normal health.

Methods:

College students in 4 intact classes were asked to volunteer for this controlled interventional study. Eighty-two students (76% of female and 24% of male) consented to participate, with 46 from 2 yoga classes as intervention group (YOG) and 36 from other 2 non-physical-activity classes as control group (CON). The yoga class session was for 50 minutes in duration, 3 days per week for 8 weeks. All subjects were assessed at baseline and after 8-week intervention for stationary balance using the Stork Stand test. The study was approved by university IRB committee. The data were analyzed using a 2 (Time) x 2 (Group) mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 and descriptive statistics were expressed by mean ± SD.

Analysis/Results:

Two groups had comparable baseline values with respect to measures of balance as well as physical characteristics. The mean age of the subjects was 20.3 ± 3.7 yrs. The pre- and post- mean scores for balance were 3.69 ± 2.44 sec and 3.38 ± 1.99 sec for CON, and 3.74 ± 3.02 sec and 5.20 ± 3.76 sec for YOG, respectively. At the end of 8-week intervention, subjects in YOG group experienced a significant change in overall scores for balance by increasing 1.46 sec (p = 0.015). However, there had no balance change in CON group with mean decreasing 0.32 sec over time. Significant mean differences were also found over time between two groups (p < 0.001), with YOG group having significantly more balance than CON.

Conclusions:

These results indicated there was an improvement in stationary balance for subjects in 2 yoga classes. The supervised 8-week yoga training may have positive influence on balance in college students with normal health. These positive changes may have protective benefits for their health-related fitness and quality of daily life.