Abstract
Background: Like other combat sports, sambo has competition rules that divide athletes into categories based on gender, age and weight. Athletes in combat sports often resort to rapid weight loss (RWL) methods to be more competitive in lower weight categories and gain an advantage against lighter, smaller and weaker competitors. The aim of this study was to examine the methodology implemented by two different sambo age categories, junior and senior athletes, in order to attain RWL. Methods: The sample consisted of 103 male sambo elite athletes (seniors/juniors: age 28.5 ± 4.3/18.9 ± 0.8; height (m): 1.7 ± 0.1/1.8 ± 0.1; weight (kg): 76.3 ± 17.8/74.4 ± 16.3; BMI (kg/m2): 25.0 ± 3.8/23.7 ± 3.9) who completed a survey on RWL. Results: Athletes reported losing a mean of 5 kg starting approximately 12 days before a competition. The most common methodology reported by senior and junior sambo athletes was gradually increasing dieting, followed by sauna and plastic suit training. Less common methods adopted were laxatives, diuretics, the use of diet pills and vomiting. There were significant group differences for sauna and diet pill ingestion. Coaches and parents are influential people in the lives of athletes concerning the weight loss strategy to be adopted. Conclusions: This study’s results unequivocally confirm the prevalent practice of RWL in both senior and junior sambo athletes. Although athletes prevalently chose “less harmful” methods, there is a need to inform parents and coaches of the risks and benefits of RWL.
Highlights
The term “SAMBO” is the acronym of “CAМозaщитa Без Оружия”, a phrase of Russian origin that means “self-defense without weapons”
The mean age reported for the first rapid weight loss (RWL) was 17.6 ± 4.7 years for seniors and 14.0 ± 3.9 for juniors
The senior and junior athletes stated that they started cutting body weight 12.4 ± 12.1 and 10.8 ± 7.5 days prior to the competition, respectively (Table 2)
Summary
The term “SAMBO” is the acronym of “CAМозaщитa Без Оружия”, a phrase of Russian origin that means “self-defense without weapons”. Soviet Union troops used this combat sport as a training tool [1]. Sambo became an officially recognized combat sport in the 1940s, as declared by the Committee of Sports Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After 80 years of growth and development, sambo has obtained worldwide recognition and has been recently temporarily accepted by the International. In order to allow a more even participation, as for other combat sports, specific weight categories based on gender and age have been adopted in sambo [3]. Sambo has age classes ranging from cadet (14–15–16), youth
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