title: Strength-Power Performance of Visually Impaired Paralympic and Olympic Judo Athletes From the Brazilian National Team: A Comparative Study.
abstract: Loturco, I, Nakamura, FY, Winckler, C, Bragança, JR, da Fonseca, RA, Filho, JM, Zaccani, WA, Kobal, R, Cal Abad, CC, Kitamura, K, Pereira, LA, and Franchini, E. Strength-power performance of visually impaired paralympic and olympic judo athletes from the brazilian national team: a comparative study. J Strength Cond Res 31(3): 743-749, 2017-The aim of this study was to compare the muscle power and maximal isometric strength capacities of Olympic and visually impaired Paralympic judo athletes. Twenty-eight elite judo athletes (7 men and 7 women per group) from the permanent Brazilian National Paralympic and Olympic teams took part in this study. After a specific warm-up, the athletes performed loaded jump squat (JS), bench press (BP), and standing barbell row (SBR) exercises to determine their values of maximum mean propulsive power (MPP) in these respective exercises. The maximal isometric strength (MIS) was also determined for both upper and lower limbs, through the use of BP and half-squat (HS) exercises. Finally, the jumping ability was assessed using unloaded squat jump (SJ). The magnitude-based inference was used to compare the groups. The Olympic judo athletes presented a likely higher SJ height than the Paralympic athletes. The Olympic group presented almost certainly higher MPP in the loaded JS and in the SBR exercises and likely higher MPP in the BP exercise. Importantly, in the MIS assessments the differences between groups in the HS and BP exercises were rated as unclear. In conclusion, our results showed that both Olympic and Paralympic judo athletes present similar levels of maximal isometric strength, but muscle power performance is superior in Olympic athletes.
authors.affiliation: 1NAR-Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, Brazil; 2Department of Physical Education, UEL-State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil; 3CPB-Brazilian Paralympic Committee, Brasília, Brazil; 4CBJ-Brazilian Judo Confederation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and 5Martial Arts and Combat Sports Research Group, Department of Sport, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Irineu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Loturco
authors.forename: Fábio Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winckler
authors.forename: Jaime R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bragança
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: da Fonseca
authors.forename: Josué
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moraes-Filho
authors.forename: Wagner A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Zaccani
authors.forename: Ronaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kobal
authors.forename: Cesar C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Cal Abad
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Lucas A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Emerson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Franchini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000379:methods*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities; D055815:Young Adult