Search Results

This study aimed to verify the behavior of physiological, perceptual, and performance responses during a high-intensity exercise in judo athletes and to identify if this protocol is able to discriminate athletes from different levels (national vs. state). Forty-five male judo athletes participated and were divided into two groups: state (age 24.2 ± 3.7 years) and national (22.1 ± 3.3 years). Judo athletes performed a judo-specific protocol contained high-intensity intermittent exercise consisted of 12 sets of 20 s in all-out intensity. During the protocol, the repetitions and heart rate were assessed over the sets, and at the end of the protocol, the rate of perceived exertion was measured. The results showed that the national group presented higher repetitions (29 ± 4 repetitions) during the high-intensity intermittent exercise compared with state (22 ± 2 repetitions). However, the national group showed a progressive decrease of repetitions up to the middle of the protocol, which coincided with higher values of heart rate compared with state (first and second sets). There was a decrease of repetitions from the first set (p < .001) and similar values of heart rate from the third set in the state. In conclusion, the performance (in repetitions) during the high-intensity intermittent exercise was able to discriminate athletes from different competitive levels. National athletes presented better performance, but worse pacing strategy compared with state.

In judo competition for visual impairment, athletes of different classes compete against each other in the same category; B1 athletes are totally blind, whereas B2 and B3 athletes are partially sighted. To test for potential competition disparities due a single category of athletes, this study aimed to compare competitive and technical–tactical performance in visually impaired judo athletes with different degrees of visual impairment. The authors analyzed 340 judo matches from the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. The scores, penalties, efficiency index, and types of medals were examined, as well as the technical variation and temporal structure. The main finding was that blind judo athletes presented lower scores (p < .05; effect size [ES] = 0.43–0.73), medals (p < .05), and efficiency (p < .05; ES = 0.40–0.73); different patterns of play; and a shorter time to lose than partially sighted athletes (p = .027; ES = 0.10–0.14). However, the penalties were similar between classes (p > .05; ES = 0.07–0.14). The odds ratio of a winning medal was 3.5–8 times less in blind athletes than in partially sighted athletes (p < .01). In conclusion, blind judo athletes presented lower competitive and technical–tactical performance than athletes with some residual functional vision. These findings provide support for the development of new evidence-based criteria for judo classification based on vision impairment.

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of specific sprint and vertical jump training interventions on transfer of speed–power parameters. The data search was carried out in three electronic databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, and SPORTDiscus), and 28 articles were selected (13 on vertical jump training and 15 on sprint training). We followed the PRISMA criteria for the construction of this systematic review and used the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale to assess the quality of all studies. It included studies with a male population (athletes and nonathletes, n = 512) from 18 to 30 years old who performed a vertical jump or sprint training intervention. The effect size was calculated from the values of means and SDs pre- and posttraining intervention. The percentage changes and transfer of training effect were calculated for vertical jump training and sprint training through measures of vertical jump and sprint performance. The results indicated that both training interventions (vertical jump training and sprint training) induced improvements in vertical jump and linear sprint performance as well as transfer of training to speed–power performance. However, vertical jump training produced greater specific and training transfer effects on linear sprint than sprint training (untrained skill). It was concluded that vertical jump training and sprint training were effective in increasing specific actions of vertical jump and linear sprint performance, respectively; however, vertical jump training was shown to be a superior alternative due to the higher transfer rate.

Context: The participation of judo athletes with disabilities in competitions has increased over the years as well as the burden of sports-related injuries and illnesses in this population. However, there is limited knowledge about sports-related injuries in judo athletes with different disabilities. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of injuries in judo athletes with disabilities, considering the different impairment groups, magnitude of injury (ie, mechanism, nature, and severity of injury), and specific body parts. Design: Cross-sectional study (level of evidence, 3). Setting: Brazilian Judo athletes with disabilities. Patients: Fifty-one judo athletes with disabilities (15 men and 36 women) participated in this study. Main Outcome Measures: Data were obtained from an adapted injury report form. The prevalence of injuries was assessed, considering type of impairment, body parts, mechanisms, and severity as well as differences between male and female athletes, with the significance level set at P < .05. Results: The results demonstrated a high prevalence of injuries in female athletes with visual impairment (n = 11, 73.3%) and male athletes with amputations (n = 14, 38.8%). A high prevalence was found in the national group, especially for male athletes (n = 29, 80.5%). Among athletes who had injuries, 69.4% (n = 12) of male and 80.0% (n = 25) of female athletes’ injuries occurred due to direct contact with other athletes, and 72.2% (n = 26) of male and 86.6% (n = 13) of female athletes’ injuries were in the training environment. The magnitude of injuries ranged from moderate to severe for male and female athletes. The knee (n = 25, 49.0%) and shoulder (n = 12, 23.5%) were the body parts most affected by injuries in both male and female athletes. Conclusion: A large percentage of judo athletes with disabilities reported experiencing an injury during the previous 2 years; percentages were greater in athletes with visual and physical impairment. Moreover, most injuries occurred in the knee or shoulder, during training, and in direct contact with other athletes and were of severe magnitude.

Match-related performance analysis in judo Para athletes with visual impairments is important to coaches and staff to identify technical–tactical profiles of their athletes and opponents but also to identify whether there are similar characteristics in each visual class. Thus, this study explores the match-related performance in judo Para athletes and verifies the relationship between performance using the old and new classification systems. The match-derived variables were analyzed using different statistical methods considering a total of 182 matches from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The results indicated that performance was affected by sex and degree of impairment. The new classification system seems suitable for grouping Para judo athletes, as it differentiates performance between the two proposed classes (J1 and J2), since athletes from each group compete separately. Furthermore, different variability index measures were correlated with competitive performance, demonstrating a specific performance profile for each sport class in judo.