Anaerobic upper and lower body power measurements and perception of fatigue during a kick boxing match.

AIM: Objective of the study was to determine the effects of a kick-boxing match on muscle power of the upper and lower body as well as the associated perceived exertion in young men.

METHODS: Eighteen well trained kick-boxers volunteered to participate in a competitive sparring bout preceded and followed by three anaerobic tests as follow: squat jump (SJ) and counter movement jump (CMJ) for legs and 30-s Wingate test for arms. The sparring bout consisted of three 2 min rounds with 1 min recovery period in-between. Blood lactate (BL), heart rate (HR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were analyzed before and after each round.

RESULTS: The results showed that vertical jump distance in SJ and CMJ were significantly lower after the kick-boxing match (27.92±3.84 vs. 25.28±4.39 cm; 29.8±5.33 vs 28.48±4.64 cm, for SJ and CMJ respectively). Likewise, peak and mean power in the Wingate test decreased significantly after the sparring bout (5.89±0. 69 vs. 5.26±0.66 W•kg-1 and 4.51±0.53 vs. 4.12±0.51 W•kg-1 for PP and MP respectively; P<0.001). Moreover, we found a significant increase in BL, HR, and RPE after the kick-boxing match (P<0.001). BL increased significantly after the second and third round from the post round one values' (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION: These findings showed that a single kick-boxing match is of sufficient intensity to stress the anaerobic metabolism. Thus, training protocols should include exercises that train the anaerobic energetic pathways for upper and lower body.