Exercise-induced arterial adaptations in elite judo athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine exercise-inducedarterial adaptations in elite judo male and female athletes. 27male judo athletes (age 24.06 ± 2 years), 11 female judoka (age24.27 ± 1 years), 27 sedentary healthy men (age 24.01 ± 2 years)and 11 women (age 24.21 ± 1 years) participated in the currentstudy. the examined vessels included brachial, radial, ulnar,popliteal, anterior and posterior tibial arteries. the experimentalparameters were recorded with the use of duplex ultrasound atrest. diastolic diameter and blood mean flow velocity of theexamined arteries in judo athletes were found to be both significantlyincreased (p < 0.05) compared to the findings of thecontrol groups. in male judo athletes the brachial (p < 0.001),radial (p < 0.001), and anterior tibial artery (p < 0.001) presentedthe highest difference on the diastolic diameter, comparedwith the control male group. in female judo athletes, ulnar(p < 0.001), radial (p < 0.001), and brachial (p < 0.001) arteriesillustrated the highest diastolic diameter. the highest bloodmean flow velocity was recorded in ulnar (p < 0.001) and poplitealarteries (p < 0.001) of the judo athletes groups. recordingdifferences between the two genders, male participants presentedlarger arteries than females. conclusively, judo has beenfound to be a highly demanding physical sport, involving upperand lower limbs leading to significant arterial adaptations. obtainingvascular parameters provide a useful tool to the medicalteam, not only in the direction of enhancement of the efficacy ofphysical training, but in unknown so far parameters that mayinfluence athletic performance of both male and female elitejudokas.