Effect of Plyometrics and Pilates Training on Dynamic Balance and Core Strength of Karate Players

Abstract

Introduction: The success of the karate player mainly depends on the balance and core strength. Improvement in these physical variables depends upon the type of exercise training used by the athletes. In the Indian context, there is lack of literature that supports the use of Pilates and Plyometric Training (PT) programme in training of Karate players. Therefore, to achieve success in the sport, best training method should be chosen by athletes or coaches. Aim: To compare and evaluate the effectiveness of two training programs Pilates and Plyometric on balance and core strength of National level male Karate athletes. Materials and Methods: The design of this study was experimental and sampling technique was simple random sampling. This study was conducted on a sample of 120 with 40 subjects in each group i.e., Experimental group A (Plyometric, N=40), Experimental group B (Pilates, N=40) and Control group C (N=40). The data was collected during 20th May 2018 to 10thFebruary 2020. The national level male karate players in the age group of 18 to 24 years with playing experience of five years were included in the study. The plyometric and pilates training were carried out in experimental groups for three days per week for eight weeks and no training method was implemented in the control group. Three reading were recorded, at the baseline, at the end of 4th and 8th week. Dynamic balance and core strength were the outcome measurements which were measured by modified Star Excursion Balance Test (mSEBT) and isometric core strength tests respectively. All the data was analysed by SPSS version 2.0 and the descriptive stats noted as mean±SD. ANOVA post-hoc analysis were calculated with p-value significance set at <0.05. Results: After eight weeks of intervention, both experimental groups showed significant improvement in dynamic balance and core strength comparisons between the groups. When the pre-test and post-test values of the experimental groups have been compared at the 4th week and 8th week of the study showed significant improvement (p-value <0.001) in the mSEBT and Core strength of the plyometric group compared to pilates and control group. Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that plyometrics and pilates both can improve balance and core strength of karate players but the PT method had more positive and statistically better effects on core strength and dynamic balance than pilates group in the view of sports performance.

Effects of Strength Training on Physical Fitness of Olympic Combat Sports Athletes: A Systematic Review

“…The total number of studies obtained 45% of the total scale score (15 points), which can be seen in Table 1 . Two studies obtained a score of 10/15 [ 26 , 27 ], two obtained 9/15 [ 28 , 29 ], two obtained 8/15 [ 30 , 31 ], five obtained 7/15 [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], four obtained 6/15 [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ], two obtained 5/15 [ 41 , 42 ], and three obtained 4/15 [ 43 , 44 , 45 ].…”

“…The studies were carried out on the continent of South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, specifically six in Brazil [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 36 ], two in Lithuania [ 34 , 45 ], two in Spain [ 26 , 27 ], one in Serbia [ 38 ], one in Denmark [ 44 ], one in France [ 37 ], one in India [ 41 ], one in Turkey [ 30 ], one in Iran [ 39 ], one in Korea [ 40 ], one in China [ 35 ], and one in Egypt [ 43 ], respectively. Regarding the OCS practiced, seven studies were interventions with judo [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], five studies with karate [ 27 , 30 , 39 , 43 , 44 ], five with boxing [ 32 , 34 , 35 , 40 , 45 ], two with wrestling [ 41 , 42 ], and one study with fencing [ 26 ]. No articles were found that met the inclusion criteria for the taekwondo modality.…”

“…Thirteen studies had 8–21 participants[ 26 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 43 , 45 ], three studies with 21–23 participants [ 27 , 42 , 44 ], three studies with 39–40 participants [ 28 , 29 , 41 ], and one study with 120 participants [ 30 ]. This totaled a sample of 504 athletes, 428 male, and 76 female, with a mean age of 21.5 years.…”

“…One study indicated that its participants were national and international level judo athletes [ 36 ]. Five studies reported that their participants were karate athletes who competed at the national level [ 27 , 30 , 39 ] or at the university level [ 43 , 44 ]. Two studies indicated that their participants were amateur boxers belonging to the Olympic team from Brazil [ 32 ] or Korea [ 40 ].…”

“…Regarding the intervention groups, five studies had two analysis groups, one experimental group that participated in a strength training intervention and one control group [ 26 , 35 , 37 , 41 , 42 ]. Three studies had three groups, two experimental, and one control [ 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Twelve studies were of quasi-experimental design, where seven studies only had one training group [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 43 , 45 ], two studies had two training groups [ 27 , 31 ], and only one study had three training groups [ 44 ].…”