THE EFFECTS OF SHORT TERM BODY WEIGHT LOSS ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE IN COMBAT SPORT ATHLETES

THE 9TH CONFERENCE OF THE BALTIC SPORT SCIENCE SOCIETY, Kaunas, Litvanya, 27 - 29 Nisan 2016, (Özet Bildiri)

Background. Combat sport athletes are categorized by using body mass to countervail their body size

before competitions. Hence "making weight" at a lower weight class gives one an assumed advantage

over an opponent; many athletes are going to practice rapid weight loss applications (Artioli et al.,

2010). The loss of large amounts of body mass in a short time is extremely harmful to the athletic

performance especially in sports required endurance (Timpmann et al., 2008; Weiss et al., 2007). The

reasons for the decrease in endurance performance were not clearly explained in previous studies.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of short -term body weight loss on

endurance performance in combat sport athletes. Methods. Twelve experienced male combat sports

athletes [(mean ± SD) age: 22.50 ± 1.50 years; stature: 172.25 ± 6.41 cm; body mass: 78.15 ± 11.65

kg; body fat %: 15.05 ± 5.24] previously lost weight for competitions were participated as volunteer in

this study. Athletes were involved in a period with weight loss as experimental application and a

period without weight loss as control application in a randomized crossover design with one week

interval. Measurements were made before weight loss, during weight loss, after weight loss and 18-

hour after recovery period. Athletes were ensured to lose 5% of their body weight within 48 hours. In

this period body fat percentage, fat free mass, VO2max, total running time, urine density, serum

sodium, chlorine and osmolarity were examined. Two way ANOVA with repeated measures were

used for statistical analysis. Results. According to the statistical analyses VO2max and total running

time significantly (p < .05) decreased due to weight loss. Moreover, significant (p < .05) reduction was

found in body fat percentage and fat free mass. On the other hand, significant (p < .05) increase was

seen in urine density, serum sodium, chlorine and osmolality. Consequently, the results of this study

revealed that 5% body weight loss within 48 hours negatively affects aerobic capacity, body

composition and physiological responses related to endurance performance. Conclusion. Therefore

the combat sport athletes should avoid rapid weight loss in order to protect their athletic

performance and health.

Keywords: dehydration, electrolytes, total running time, VO2max.