Effects of anaerobic fatigue on postural control in taekwondo practitioners

Abstract

Biomechanical research in combat sports usually focuses on the improvement of technique effectiveness [1,2,3]. Train ing loads are to produce specific fatigue-induced changes. Fatigue results from performance and is desired in sports training, provided it reaches a specific level. An external mea su rable symptom of fatigue is a reduction of speed, strength and precision of movements. Such a state may also lead to sports injuries. Postural control is of crucial significance in physical activity as it constitutes a basis for development of other motor abilities in upright body stance. The quality of body balance control is determined by the proper function of the vestibular system and involves a vast array of issues related to motor control, spatial orientation and effects of different forces on the human body. Many resear chers agree that physical exercise and sight do affect postural control in upright stance [4,5,6,7]. There has been a number of studies concerned with the impact of anaerobic and aerobic exercise as well as peripheral and central fatigue on body balance control [8,9,10,11,12, 13,14,15,16]. Some researchers claim that exercise has a negative influence on the quality of postural control in upper stance [5,12,17], while others stipulate that the impact of exercise depends on applied training loads [15,18]. This diver gence of researchers’ opinions may certainly be related to the application of different methods in research experiments. It was noted by Paillard T. [14] , who advocates some stan dardization of test protocols examining the impact of exer cises in sport and rehabilitation. He also concludes that the fatigue of leg muscles, proximal muscles and extensors decreases the quality of postural control to a greater degree than the fatigue of arm muscles, distal muscles, and flexors. Different authors also claim that specific forms of movement may improve parameters of postural control, e.g. Tai-chi train ing [19]. It can be assumed that a similar positive impact can