Effect of Karate Exercises on Irregular Menstrual Cycles in College Going Girls- A Pre and Post Experimental Study

Shruti Deshpande, Chaitanya A. Kulkarni, Om C. Wadhokar, Waqar M. Naqvi*, Pratik Phansopkar, Sakshi P. Arora

MGM School of Physiotherapy Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Studies which are done worldwide, have stated that 74% of adult women suffer from irregular menstrual cycles and other associated symptoms. They have also found that there is association between quality of life and irregular menstrual cycles and distress related to menstrual irregularities. This study was a pre and post experimental study, where 45 college going girls were screened for irregular menstrual cycles, followed by that, demographic details were taken and pre intervention BMI was calculated and menstrual distress questionnaire scores were analyzed. The Karate exercises included, 15 minutes of Running, 15 minutes of 100 punches, 100 kicks for 15 minutes, 15 minutes of Karate techniques and 10 minutes of Katas and 5 minutes of cool down exercises and breathing exercises. The results of pre and post interventions showed that the Karate exercises were effective on irregular menstrual cycles along with decrease in BMI levels and menstrual distress questionnaire scores including domains. Based on the results, the study can be concluded that, the Karate exercises are effective on irregular menstrual cycles along with reduction in BMI levels and menstrual distress questionnaire scores. In addition it showed the improvement in pain, negative thoughts, concentration related to menstrual irregularities. The study found that the karate exercises are mostly effective on menstrual distress than BMI levels.

Keywords:

Irregular menstrual cycles, Karate, BMI, Menstrual distress questionnaire.