Managing adaptive reserves of the autonomic nervous system in 15-16-year-old hockey players using the pranayama program with qigong exercises.

Managing functional status in young ice hockey players is an important task of medical supervision in sports. The study aims to develop a program for increasing the adaptive reserves of the cardiovascular system by using the pranayama program with qigong exercises. Hockey players aged 15-16 years participated in the experiment (attackers and defenders). A program was developed for increasing the reactivity of the parasympathetic nervous system. The pranayama program with qigong elements was used in the competitive training period, three times per week at the end of training sessions. The program includes the following types of qigong exercises: preliminary qigong exercises, basic dynamic pranayama exercises, and breath-holding exercises. Two groups were formed: control (n = 29) and experimental (n = 28). The reactivity of the parasympathetic nervous system was assessed in an active orthostatic test according to the method of V.M. Mikhaylov (2000). The initial type of heart rate regulation was determined according to the method of N.I. Shlyk (2009) for establishing the reactions of the parasympathetic nervous system to breathing exercises. The effect of the Pranayama program on hockey players is expressed as: an increase in the reactivity of the parasympathetic nervous system in type I-II hockey players (the predominance of central mechanisms of heart rate regulation) and the absence of changes in type IIIIV players (the predominance of autonomic mechanisms of heart rate regulation). Thus, the effectiveness of the Pranayama program in the competitive period has been proven only for hockey players with moderate and pronounced centralization in heart rate regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]