Acute effects of a warm-up including active, passive, and dynamic stretching on vertical jump performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of 3 different stretching methods combined with a warm-up protocol on vertical jump performance. Sixteen young tennis players (14.5 ± 2.8 years; 175 ± 5.6 cm; 64.0 ± 11.1 kg) were randomly assigned to 4 different experimental conditions on 4 successive days. Each session consisted of a general and specific warm-up, with 5 minutes of running followed by 10 jumps, accompanied by one of the subsequent conditions: (a) Control Condition (CC)-5 minutes of passive rest; (b) Passive Stretching Condition (PSC)-5 minutes of passive static stretching; (c) Active Stretching Condition (ASC)-5 minutes of active static stretching; and (d) Dynamic Stretching Condition (DC)-5 minutes of dynamic stretching. After each intervention, the subjects performed 3 squat jumps (SJs) and 3 countermovement jumps (CMJs), which were measured electronically. For the SJ, 1-way repeated measures analysis of variance (CC × PSC × ASC × DC) revealed significant decreases for ASC (28.7 ± 4.7 cm; p = 0.01) and PSC (28.7 ± 4.3 cm; p = 0.02) conditions when compared with CC (29.9 ± 5.0 cm). For CMJs, there were no significant decreases (p > 0.05) when all stretching conditions were compared with the CC. Significant increases in SJ performance were observed when comparing the DC (29.6 ± 4.9 cm; p = 0.02) with PSC (28.7 ± 4.3 cm). Significant increases in CMJ performance were observed when comparing the conditions ASC (34.0 ± 6.0 cm; p = 0.04) and DC (33.7 ± 5.5 cm; p = 0.03) with PSC (32.6 ± 5.5 cm). A dynamic stretching intervention appears to be more suitable for use as part of a warm-up in young athletes.

Determination of judo endurance performance using the uchi - komi technique and an adapted lactate minimum test.

This study aimed to evaluate the viability to use Uchi-komi (UK) in the evaluation of the judo endurance performance and using lactate threshold the analysis of the blood lactate ([Lac]) and heart rate (HR) determined through a lactate minimum test. The subjects were a group of 6 male, volunteer judokas, from 25.17 ± 5.76 years old, weight 84.50 ± 23.78 kg and height 1.78 ± 0.10 m, competitors of different levels of performance (from regional to international competitions) and match experience of (11 ± 6) years old. Three tests were performed: a) 3000 m dash in track, b) the adapted test of lactate minimum for running and c) for UK, with execution of the blow ippon-seoi-nague. No significant difference was evident for the track tests and UK in relation to blood lactate and heart rate (p > 0.05) (3.87 ± 0.38 vs 4.17 ± 0.54 mmol·L(-1) and 167 ± 2 vs 152 ± 7 b·min(-1), respectively). In conclusion it is stressed that: 1) The specific test for lactate minimum in judo sport is a promising possibility of aerobic capacity evaluation and a instrument of intensity training control; 2) The metabolic profile in Vlm and UKlm is similar, because there are not differences in the [Lac] and in the HR at this intensity; 3) It is possible to estimate the training intensity through the determination of the lactate minimum intensity in running (Vlm) and the Heart Rate associated (HR) from the execution of ippon-seoi- nague (uchi-komi) in judo training; 4) The Vlm for judo athletes is approximately 88% of the V3000. Key pointsThe specific test for lactate minimum in judo sport is a promising possibility of aerobic capacity evaluation;This is a instrument for intensity training control for judo players;The metabolic profile is similar between running and uki-komi (ippon-seoi-nague techniques) at lactate minimum intensity.