Effect of selected yoga exercises on the balance of dominance and non-dominance leg of middle age women

Abstract   Introduction: Balance is one of the most important contexts in ageing. Improving balance in middle age can prevent falling down in elderly which impose the financial and mental costs to society. Imbalance between dominant and non-dominant leg can lead to some problems. That’s way; studying effects of similar exercise on dominant and non-dominant legs of body can prevent problems caused by imbalance between two limbs. Materials and methods: Twenty-two middle age women, (mean age 54.50±4.48), with no history of  illness participated in this study. In the first session dynamic balance was measured by Star Excursion Balance Test and static balance was measured by Stork stand test in either dominant or non-dominant leg. Participants did practice 24 sessions of yoga classes. In the last session static and dynamic balance test were repeated. Results: The results of T test showed that static and dynamic balance in dominant and non-dominant legs improved significantly after 8 weeks yoga exercise (P=0.05). Also the significant difference was observed in dynamic balance in dominant and non-dominant legs (p<0.05). But, the improvement of both legs in static balance was the same. Conclusion: It can be concluded that yoga Exercise increase static and dynamic balance in both legs. The balance of non-dominant legs improved more than dominant legs. But, the improvement of both legs in static balance was the same. So, it appears that differences in dominant and non-dominant leg in effects of clinical therapy and exercise training should be considered. Key words: Dominant  Leg, Non-Dominant Leg, Balance, Yoga