Infrared thermography-calorimetric quantitation of energy expenditure in biomechanically different types of jūdō throwing techniques: a pilot study

It was the purpose of this pilot study to assess the energy expenditure (EE) of two biome-chanically different jūdō throws, namely, the simple mechanical couple-based uchi-mata vs. the lever-based throw ippon-seoi-nage, using infrared thermal calorimetry (ITC). Testing subjects included one Caucasian female elite athlete (age: 26.4 years) and one male veteran jūdōka (age: 50.8 years). ITC images were captured by an Avio NEC InfRec R300 camera and thermal data obtained were plotted into a proprietary equation for estimation of EE. Data were compared to respiratory data obtained by a Cosmed K4 b2 portable gas analyzer. Oxy-gen consumption as estimated by ITC capture during practice of uchi-mata was markedly lower than during performance ippon-seoi-nage in the female (457 mL•min-1 vs. 540 mL•min-1, P<0.05) and male subject (1,078 mL•min-1 vs. 1,088 mL•min-1, NS), with the difference in values between both genders subject being significant (P<0.01). The metabolic cost of the exercise (uchi-mata vs. ippon-seoi-nage) itself was 1.26 kcal•min-1 (88 W) vs. 1.68 kcal•min-1 (117 W) (P<0.05) in the female subject, and 2.97 kcal•min-1 (207 W) (P<0.01) vs. 3.02 kcal•min-1 (211 W) (NS) in the male subject. Values for the female were significantly differ-ent (P<0.01) from those of the male subject. The results support the initial hypothesis that the couple-based jūdō throws (in this case, uchi-mata) are energetically more efficient than lever-based throws, such as ippon-seoi-nage. Application of this approach may be of practical use for coaches in optimizing energy-saving strategies in both elite and veteran jūdō athletes.

Jaar van publicatie:2015

Toegankelijkheid:Open