Mitigating the Antecedents of Sports-related Injury through Yoga

CONTEXT: Injury risk among athletes is an epidemic. The psychological and physical loads imposed on athletes through psychosocial stressors and training regimens significantly increase athletes' injury risk. AIMS: This feasibility study assessed whether a 10-week yoga intervention could be implemented successfully and mitigated antecedents of sports injury. METHODS: Using a prospective, nonexperimental design, 31 male soccer players attending a college in the Pacific Northwest enrolled in the yoga intervention. The Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) was completed at three time-points before and after the yoga intervention. The RESTQ-Sport scales, identified as strongest predictors for injury, were hypothesized to be mitigated through yoga. RESULTS: Two stress-related scales were significant in the hypothesized direction: injury and fatigue. The general recovery scale, General Well-Being, was significant at one time-point, but in the opposite direction as hypothesized. CONCLUSIONS: Positive findings are discussed and explanations for unexpected changes are explored, along with study limitations. Results suggest that yoga can be successfully integrated into the athletic program of soccer players and provisionally support the potential of a yoga intervention to mitigate two significant antecedents of injury, namely, perception of propensity to sustain injury and generalized fatigue.