Health-related body composition and muscle strength in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the health-related body composition and muscle strength performance in male and female Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) practitioners and to verify the upper and lower limbs bilateral asymmetry in these individuals. Forty-three BJJ practitioners participated of this study, 20 men and 23 women. The individuals performed anthropometric measurements (body mass, height and body fat), neuromuscular lower limb assessments (countermovement jump—CMJ, squat jump—SJ and sit-and-reach test), and upper limb assessments (handgrip strength test—HGS test and Kimono Grip Strength Test—KGST). The main results demonstrated that most practitioners (both men and women) were classified as normal body fat, regular performance in CMJ and HGS, however, with poor flexibility. Higher performance in neuromuscular tests (CMJ, SJ and HGS) and KGST was reported in men compared to women, while women presented better flexibility and the use of elastic energy during the jump compared to men (p < 0.05). Additionally, higher values of HGS in the dominant hand than the non-dominant was observed only in women (p = 0.001), and no significant difference was observed in the unilateral CMJ between the limbs for both women (p = 0.29) and men (p = 0.06). The recreational BJJ practice seems to induce improvements in body composition and muscle strength in the upper and lower limbs, without provoking bilateral asymmetries in the lower limbs. Men presented higher physical performance than women in most neuromuscular tests, but both showed poor flexibility.