PRE-COMPETITION PHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL STATES OF TAEKWONDO ATHLETES

Therefore, this study examined the pre-competition physical, physiological and psychosocial states of taekwondo athletes participating in the Brazilian Taekwondo Championship. In a pre-experimental study, five athletes of the men’s Paraíba taekwondo team (26±8 years old; 1.76±0.04 m) underwent anthropometric assessments, measurement of markers of muscle damage, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, and evaluation of mood and recovery-stress states and of explosive power of lower limbs at two time points: 30 (pre) and 2 (post) days before the Brazilian Championship.

Data were analyzed by the Wilcoxon test (95% confidence). The percent difference (Δ) between time points and Cohen’s effect size (d) were calculated. Percent effects were observed on muscle damage (Δ= −25.7% in CK, d= 1.1) and antioxidant activity (Δ= 22.7% in MDA, d = 2.56).