Neuromuscular Performance of World-Class Judo Athletes on Bench Press, Prone Row and Repeated Jump Tests

Abstract

Judo is a sport that requires multiple high-intensity moments during the fight and high neuromuscular performance. Although not often, the explosive actions of the lower limbs can be decisive to winning in combat. This study aims to identify the differences in the neuromuscular features of the range of movements of the upper and lower limbs between the top-elite and elite male judo athletes. This cross-sectional study included 63 high-level male judo athletes, who were classified into two level groups: (i) top-elite (n = 30; age: 23.5 ± 3.2 years) and (ii) elite (n = 33; age: 22.6 ± 2.9 years). All the participants went to the laboratory for neuromuscular evaluations in the bench press (BP), prone row (PR), and repeated jump in 30 s (RJ30) tests. The results show that the top-elite judo athletes are superior in all the upper-body neuromuscular attributes studied. These differences were significantly superior in (i) BP peak velocity (p p p p p p = 0.010), power mean (absolute, p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 2p = 0.088) and power (p 2p = 0.068) showed a significant interaction between time and performance group. These results suggested that the observed superiority of the top-elite judo athletes in neuromuscular attributes can determine success in judo competitions. This observation reinforces that neural and metabolic profiles must be considered to increase the effectiveness of maximal power training for the upper and lower body.

Keywords

• combat sports
• force
• performance
• power
• rate of force development
• strength