A preliminary comparative study on the effects of pilates training on physical fitness of young female volleyball players

Introduction: Volleyball is one of the world’s most popular sports and because of its enormous popularity many studies have been conducted in an attempt to understand the better method training required to develop fitness performance by a volleyball player. Among which, Pilates exercises have also offered new effective methods for increasing strength and enhancing flexibility. However, many studies have looked at the benefits of Pilates-based exercises only for low back pain and improvement of a person’s quality of life. Therefore, the purpose of this preliminary causal-comparative study was to examine the effects of Pilates training on some physical fitness components in young female volleyball players. Materials and methods: 56 female players (13-18 years) were recruited and assigned to two groups: a Pilates group (n = 28) performing a Pilates training program since at least two years by the team physiotherapist in addition to volleyball team training, and a standard volleyball training group (n = 28) that has never practiced Pilates before. All participants were tested on the sit and reach and vertical jump (height and power by squat jump and countermovement jump). Comparison by one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between the groups (p > 0.05) both for the sit and reach and vertical jump tests. Results: Pilates training and standard volleyball training groups did not differ significantly at baseline in anthropometric characteristics (p > 0.05). Statistical analysis of the data revealed no significant differences between the groups for the sit and reach test squat jump test and countermovement jump test. Conclusion: our data suggest that Pilates exercises program could be not sufficient to cause significant improvement in hamstring flexibility and lower limb explosive strength. Future research with rigorous experimental design is needed to assess Pilates effectiveness.