Abstract:

Athletes, who engage in wrestling, perform weight adjustment before the competitions like all weight loss category sports. For this reason, weight management is a very important factor prior to matches. When the studies on weight loss are examined, it is seen that athletes lose weight in a short time close to the competition. This study aimed to investigate the effects of short-term body weight loss in elite wrestlers on anaerobic performance and reaction time during tournament conditions. Ten experienced international level male wrestlers participated as a volunteer in this study. Participants lost 5% of their body weight within 48 hours, in 72 hours; 1 kg tolerance was given over 5% of body weight. During this process, body composition measurement, Wingate anaerobic performance test (WAnT), Countermovement Jump (CMJ), and visual and auditory reaction tests were conducted. In this study, a randomized crossover design was used and applications lasted four days. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used for statistical analysis. Due to short-term body weight loss in body composition, total body water (TBW) and fat-free mass (FFM) were significantly reduced. In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference in body fat percentage (BF %), visual and auditory reaction time, CMJ and average power (AP). However, there was a significant increase was seen in Peak power (PP) and fatigue index (FI). The results indicate that 5% loss of body weight within 48 hours caused significant changes in body composition and negatively affected the fatigue index. For this reason, athletes who lose weight should avoid rapid weight-loss practices that will cause sudden changes in body composition in order to maintain their athletic performance.

Keywords: