title: The effect of the weight reduction on the salivary cortisol levels of judo players.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of weight reduction prior to a competition on the salivary cortisol level for first-rate judo players. Subjects were divided into three groups by the weight reduction rate. On the day before the competition, the cortisol levels of the low- and high-weight reduction group showed a tendency to decrease and were significantly lower than that of the non-weight reduction group (p<0.05). However, with regard to the change in the stress indices, there was a difference between the high- and low-weight reduction groups. In the high-weight reduction group alone, there was a significant increase in the stress indices on the day before the competition (p<0.05). These findings suggest that the HPA axis is affected during the relatively early stage of weight reduction and mental stress is increased at the higher weight reduction rate.
authors: Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-Oka, 565-0871, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Toda
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Morimoto
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Fukuda
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Umeda
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Nakaji
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Sugawara