Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 6 week plyometric training on biochemical and physical fitness parameters of inter collegiate jumpers. A group of 30 jumpers (mean ± SD: age 22.02 ± 1.64 years, height 1.78 ± 0.04 m, body mass 75.5 ± 5.2 kg), who participated in inter-college athletic competition volunteered to participate in this study. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Directorate of Sport in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India. All participants were informed about the study aim and methodology. All the subjects agreed to the above conditions in writing. They were randomly assigned into plyometric training (P) and control (C) groups, n=15 each.Plyometric group (P) was subjected to 6 week plyometric training program of 30 min a day and the control group did not perform any plyometric training techniques. The following biochemical and physical fitness parameters were determined: haemoglobin (g.dl^-1), urea (mg^.dl^-1), uric acid (mg^.dl^-1), total cholesterol (mg^.dl^-1), triglyceride (mg^.dl^-1), aerobic capacity, body composition and trunk strength and endurance. A paired (samples) t-test was used in data analysis. The level of p£0.05 was considered significant. Significant between-group differences were found in aerobic capacity (t=2.40*), body composition (t=2.43*) and abdominal strength and endurance (t=2.96*) whereas no significant between-group differences were noted in haemoglobin (t=1.25), urea (t=1.14), uric acid (t=1.10), total cholesterol (t=1.61) and triglyceride (t=1.56).The plyometric training may be recommended to improve and maintain physical fitness parameters of Jumpers.

Key words: Plyometric training, biochemical parameters, physical fitness, Jumpers.