Effect of circadian rhythm on selected factors related to volleyball performance

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to find out the effect of circadian rhythm on selected factors related to volleyball performance. To achieve the purpose of the study, a total of thirty volleyball players [men (n = 15) and women (n = 15)] age between 19 years and 22 years from Einstein College of Engineering, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India were selected as subjects. The two independent variables are gender and circadian variations and dependent variables of flexibility, anaerobic power, aerobic power, body temperature, resting heart rate, blood sugar, blood urea, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure and total mood disturbance (TMD) were selected for this study. Collected data were subjected to statistical analysis by using two-way factorial (2 x 6) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Cosinor analysis was used to find out the existence of significant circadian rhythm. The results of the study indicate that there was significant difference between genders on flexibility, anaerobic power, aerobic power, resting heart rate and total mood disturbance (TMD) and not in other variables. It reveals that there was significant difference for men and women volleyball players on different times of the day in flexibility, anaerobic power, aerobic power, body temperature, systolic blood pressure and total mood disturbance (TMD) and not in other variables. It also reveals that there was significant circadian rhythmicity exists on aerobic power of men and women volleyball players, body temperature of men volleyball players, diastolic blood pressure of men volleyball players and total mood disturbance (TMD) of women volleyball players and not in other variables.