Practices for reducing body mass of judokas in the pre-competitive season

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the procedures adopted for weight loss in periods close to competitions, and emphasize their physiologic effects. One hundred and twenty-five athletes (20 female and 105 male) belonging to the Juvenil, Junior and Senior categories (21.5 ± 8.0 years old) participated in this study. According to the results, 73.6% of the athletes used strategies of weight reduction methods during the pre-competitive periods. The methods used by the athletes were: increasing physical activity level (76.1%), caloric restriction (59.8%), restriction of carbohydrates (32.6%), and restriction of liquids (20.7%). In absolute values, male Judokas presented greater reductions in (p < 0.05) body mass compared to women (4.5 ± 3.5 and 1.7 ± 0.8 kg, respectively). Women started using pre-competition strategies (p < 0.05) to reduc body weight sooner than men (14 ± 6 and 19 ± 7 days, respectively). In conclusion, the most of judokas develop strategies for acute body mass reduction in pre-competitive periods, which may decrease their performance