Influence of controlled breathing technique on exertion in overweight college students

Introduction: Overweight individuals showed higher oxygen uptake in relation to BMI and rating perceived exertion than the normal individuals. Objective: To find out the influence of controlled breathing on exertion in overweight college students. Method: Study design was Quasi-experimental design. Study type was Pre-test post-test, sample size was 50. Study setting was SRM College of Physiotherapy. Procedure: According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 50 Subject were selected and informed consent was obtained. The subjects was conveniently divided into Group A (n=25) and Group B (n=25). Controlled breathing technique was taught to the Group A subjects with relaxation of upper chest, shoulder and using the lower chest during stair climbing. Prior to climbing the stairs the Group B does not receive any intervention. Resting respiratory rate, heart rate were measured as pretest values for both groups. After climbing four flights of stairs, respiratory rate, heart rate and Borg rate of exertion was assessed as post-test values. Results: The result shows that there is significant increase in the mean values of heart rate and respiratory rate with p<0.05 between the pretest and post-test values in the Group A and B. The mean post-test values of heart rate, respiratory rate and Borg scale of exertion between Group A and B shows that the increase is significantly lesser in the Group A when compared to Group B. Conclusion: The study concludes that the overweight college students who underwent controlled breathing technique during stair climbing has significant reduction in the heart rate, respiratory rate and exertion when compared to subjects who did not undergo controlled breathing technique.