Introduction

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and Field, road running, cross country running, and race walking. The simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most commonly competed sports in the world.

Track and field events are generally individual sports with athletes challenging each other to decide a single victor. The racing events are won by the athlete with the fastest time, while the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who has achieved the greatest distance or height in the contest. The running events are categorised as sprints, middle and long distance events, relays, and hurdling. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also "combined events", such as heptathlon, and decathlon, in which athletes compete in a number of the above events.

Track and field events are divided into three broad categories: track events, field events, and combined events. The majority of athletes tend to specialise in just one event (or event type) with the aim of perfecting their performances, although the aim of combined events athletes is to become proficient in a number of disciplines. There are two types of field events: jumps, and throws. In jumping competitions, athletes are judged on either the length or height of their jumps. The performances of jumping events for distance are measured from a board or marker, and any athlete overstepping this mark is judged to have fouled. In the jumps for height, an athlete must clear his or her body over a crossbar without knocking the bar off the supporting standards.

The throwing events involve hurling an implement (such as a heavy weight, javelin or discus) from a set point, with athletes being judged on the distance that the object is thrown. Combined events involve the same group of athletes contesting a number of different track and field events. Points are given for their performance in each event and the athlete with the greatest points total at the end of all events is the winner.

Origin

The word athletics is derived from the Greek word "athlos ", meaning "contest" or "task." Initially, the term was used to describe athletic contests in general – i.e. sporting competition based primarily on human physical feats. In the 19th century in Europe, the term athletics acquired a more narrow definition and came to describe sports involving competitive running, walking, jumping and throwing.

In contrast to this, in much of North America athletics is synonymous with athletic sports in general, maintaining a more historic usage of the term. The word "athletics" is rarely used to refer to the sport of athletics in this region.

Yoga

Yoga: is a term for a range of traditional systems of physical exercise and meditation in Hinduism. Both the meditative and the exercise components of yoga show promise for non- specific health benefits.

According to an article in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, the system of Hatha Yoga believes that prana, or healing "life energy" is absorbed into the body through the breath, and can treat a wide variety of illnesses and complaints.

A survey released in December 2008 by the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that yoga was the 6th most commonly used alternative therapy in the United States during 2007, with 6.1 percent of the population participating.

There are many different styles and disciplines and people practice yoga for a variety of reasons. One of the main goals of yoga is to improve overall well-being through teaching discipline and self-regulation. Recently, research has focused on the healing properties of yoga and how it relates to positive psychology. Researchers wonder what psychological advantages it can afford, in addition to the previously discovered physical benefits.

Nearly all types of yoga practices include asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), and savasana (relaxation techniques). Mindfulness

Mindfulness is defined as “attending to relevant aspects of experience in a nonjudgmental manner”. Mindfulness is attained through the practice of yoga in that one is able to maintain awareness of the present, releasing control and attachment of beliefs, thoughts and emotions. Researchers have recently begun to take interest in the healing benefits of mindfulness through yoga. Research has indicated that there are health benefits of applying mindfulness-based approaches to pain management, physical functioning, and ability to cope with stresses in everyday life.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The researcher decided to undertake the study only after the experiencing the conditions himself. After discussion about athletes the researcher gone through various research works and finalize to undertake the study entitled “EFFECT OF SELECTED YOGIC EXERCISES ON PERFORMANCE OF ATHLETIC EVENTS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS”

Delimitations

Since this piece of research considers very challenging in Indian atmosphere, the researcher has delimited this study as follows:

1. Athletes have been included in this study. 2. The study has been delimited to the Athletic events. 3. Specific ‘training schedules’ of yogic exercises on the basis of the principles of training have been specifically designed. 4. The study has been conducted on a group of athletes of Jalgaon district aged 18 to 25 years. 5. The total duration of experimentation has been restricted to at least 4 months (including testing dates, Sundays & holidays) which include one experiment, and one – follow-UP programme of 6 weeks each. Limitations It has not been possible for the researcher to control overall aspects of this experiment. The researcher recorded some drawbacks remained and within which he has conducted this experiment. The limitations as noted down during experiment are:

1. It was not possible to control daily activities of the subjects since they lived with their parents. 2. The researcher had to depend upon various technical assistants while collecting data. Although testers’ reliability coefficient has been determined, still there is a chance of variability. 3. The food habits of the groups could not be controlled as most of the students are from varied culture, social & environmental background.