Abstract
Karate, a millennial martial art, was recently inserted among traditional Olympic combat sports for the Olympic Games in Japan. The aim of the present study is to determine, through bioimpedance analysis, the body composition of high-performance athletes participating in the São Paulo Olympic Karate Project. Participants were 22 athletes of both sexes, average age of 23.6 (6.0) years old, body mass of 66.6 (13.5) kg and fat percentage of 16.6 (5.5)%. Bioimpedance test indicated significant differences between sexes related to sexual dysmorphia, which had an impact on bioelectrical variables. Through comparative evaluation between male and female athletes, this study contributes to body composition analysis, indicating that, in the future, related bioimpedance tests should be used beyond their classical application, including phase angle, muscle function and other attributes.
Highlights
Karate, or “empty hand way”, is modern combat sport based on Olympic competition standards [1]
Through comparative evaluation between male and female athletes, this study contributes to body composition analysis, indicating that, in the future, related bioimpedance tests should be used beyond their classical application, including phase angle, muscle function and other attributes
Recent studies have strongly supported the hypothesis that phase angle (PhA) is a representative index of the extracellular water (ECW)/ intracellular water (ICW) ratio or body cell mass (BCM) [8,9]
Summary
“empty hand way”, is modern combat sport based on Olympic competition standards [1]. Olympic combat sports (OCS) include boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling as sport modalities and represent 20% – 25% of the total medals competed for in the Olympics [1]; such estimation must increase with the inclusion of karate in the Games in Japan. Learning and monitoring changes in the body composition is essential to define and control the weight category; higher fat percentages are related to possible negative performance in locomotion and balancebreaking activities in combat sports [4,5]. PhA must be further investigated for its reliability as an index to identify critical individual characteristics of performance, evaluate the effects of
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