Effects of yoga training and detraining on physical performance measures in prepubertal children--a randomized trial

Purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of yoga training and detraining on physical performance measures in pre-pubertal (7-9 year old) school going children. Subjects were randomized to two groups - yoga group and Physical exercise (PE) group after the baseline assessment. All the subjects were assessed for strength, endurance, whole body endurance through 20 meter shuttle and physical fitness, at 3 time points - Baseline, 3 months Post intervention and 3 months after detraining. The results suggest that the improvement in the physical performance is largely by the increase in the respiratory muscle strength in the yoga group. In conclusion, the study presents the efficacy of yoga to improve strength, endurance, whole body endurance and aerobic capacity with 3 months of training in the pediatric group. However, the effect of the training does not last after 3 months detraining.