Anthropometric Changes In Female Collegiate Athletes Apparent Within Four Weeks Of A Yoga Intervention

Document Type

Conference Presentation

Department

Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences Department

Conference Title

American College of Sports Medicine - Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise conference

Organization

American College of Sports Medicine

Location

Virtual

Date of Presentation

8-1-2021

Journal Publication

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

ISSN

0195-9131

DOI

10.1249/01.mss.0000759468.01105.c2

Volume

53

Issue

8S

First Page

34

Last Page

35

Abstract

Many college students experience weight gain prior to graduation. Causes, consequences, and interventions have been widely published, but there are fewer examinations of athletic populations. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of a structured yoga intervention on anthropometric characteristics of female collegiate athletes. METHODS: We enrolled 14 female athletes (age 18-22) who compete in track, field, and cross country at a D1 university into a yoga intervention. We randomly assigned 7 subjects to the exercise group, involving 60 minutes of in-person guided yoga twice weekly; the other 7 served as controls. All subjects underwent baseline testing and completed follow-up testing 4 weeks later. Using the Fit3D body scanning system (Fit3D Inc., USA), we recorded body fat percentage, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio. Paired-samples t-tests evaluated group changes from baseline to follow-up; independent-samples t-tests compared values between the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: Across the total sample, at baseline, body fat percentage was 25.3 ± 4.4%, waist circumference was 31.6 ± 2.5 inches, hip circumference was 38.8 ± 2.7 inches, and waist-to-hip ratio was 0.80 ± 0.04. There were no differences between the intervention and control groups in body fat percentage (p = 0.905), waist circumference (p = 0.133), hip circumference (p = 0.239), or waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.653). At follow-up, trending differences were observed between groups in body fat percentage (p = 0.073), waist circumference (p = 0.080), and hip circumference (p = 0.057). In the yoga intervention, paired-samples t-tests found significant reductions in waist circumference (p = 0.021) and waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.020). In the control subjects, significant increases were detected over time in body fat percentage (p = 0.017), waist circumference (p = 0.036), and hip circumference (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: After only 8 sessions of twice-weekly guided yoga, female collegiate athletes experienced improvement in waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio. What may be more important is the apparent protective effect of the program against a tendency to increase body fat percentage, waist circumference, and hip circumference, as was observed in the control subjects.

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