The impact of a Yoga training program on muscle contractile properties in elite football players

Introduction: Yoga challenges the body in many ways, can be an important complementary technique with a highly positive impact on football training. Aims: Soccer players undergoing additional Yoga training improve the contractile properties of their lower limb muscles. Methodology: Twenty-one professional soccer players, 1st Portuguese Soccer League, seniors U-23 - B, participated voluntarily and were randomly divided: Experimental Group (EG), Control Group (CG), all evaluated by tensiomyography, in the right/left biceps femoris muscles (BFE/E), right/left rectus femoris (RFR/E), right/left vastus medialis (VMR/E), right/left vastus lateralis (VLR/E), before training and after 12 weeks of Yoga. EG practiced Yoga at the end of the training, 12 weeks, 2 sessions/week, 60 minutes/each, guided by a certified teacher with 40 years of experience. Yoga techniques were selected and ordered for the purposes of the study: pránáyáma ​​​​​​​​(breathing), ásana (psychophysical), yoganidrá (relaxation), samyama (concentration, meditation, etc.). Results: Comparing (%) EG and CG in terms of evolution from the 1st moment (baseline) to the 2nd moment (final), we verified statistically significant differences for the variables: left biceps femoris muscle (LBF): Time Contraction (-13.06 vs 0.29), Time Delay (-1.16 vs 1.54); Displacement (-2.17 vs 2.99), the evolution being significantly greater in EG, with improvements in some muscle groups after Yoga, compared to the CG. No effect was observed in other muscle groups. Discussion/Conclusions: More studies are needed to clarify the impact of Yoga on the contractile properties of muscles in improving the performance of professional footballers.