Effects of resistance elastic training program on some anthropometric and physiological factors of teenage taekwondo practitioners

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree

Field: Physical Education Major: Exercise Physiology

Abstract

The aim of the research was to investigate the effects of elastic resistance training program on some anthropometric and physiological factors of teenage taekwondo athletes. For this purpose, 30 young taekwondo athletes with an average age of 12±1.52 years, height of 148±9.17 cm and weight of 42±10.09 kg, with a one-year experience in taekwondo in Koch Safahan, voluntarily participated in this research and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The training groups worked for 8 weeks, 3 days a week, according to the set training program. Height, weight, body composition, flexibility, speed, agility, maximal strength, explosive power, fat percentage, lean mass and body mass index were measured before and after the program. In addition to the special Taekwondo exercises, the experimental group did resistance elastic exercises; But the control group followed its usual schedule. Correlated t-test was used to examine intra-group changes and the effect of exercises and pre- and post-test comparison in each group, and independent t-test was used to examine changes between groups. The findings of the research showed that resistance elastic exercises on the variables of speed, explosive power, fat percentage, fat-free mass and body mass index of the experimental group were not significant (P>0.05). But it had a significant effect on flexibility, agility and maximum strength variables (P?0.05). There was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups in the flexibility variable (P?0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in other variables (P>0.05). According to the results obtained from the present research, it can be concluded that elastic resistance training was significant on the variables of strength, flexibility and agility of adolescent taekwondo athletes. Keywords: elastic resistance training, adolescent taekwondo athletes, physical fitness. 1-1- Introduction In today's world, sports experts seek to use scientific findings to prepare professional athletes as best as possible in competitions. They are national, world and Olympic heavy (22). There are several things coaches should be aware of. These include body mass index, strength, power, speed, ventilation and injury prevention (88). Therefore, it seems that the use of the best training methods is one of the most important principles that experienced and knowledgeable trainers in championship and professional sports must follow. Today, a wider scientific platform has been provided for the studies related to athletes, which is directly reflected in the method of performing sports exercises. Among different training methods, one of the most effective ones, elastic exercises have been introduced as relatively new methods to improve strength (22). In recent years, it has been suggested to add elastic bands to the traditional methods of resistance training programs (87). Power is a combination of strength and speed and is one of the factors of success in athletes (22). In this chapter, we will first state the problem, then we will examine the necessity and importance, goals, hypotheses, limitations, and definitions of research terms. Among the effective factors in physical fitness, we can mention strength and explosive power. In recent years, various methods have been used by researchers and trainers to improve performance. According to previous studies, the use of weight and plyometric exercises has gained significant importance (28). Success in many sports depends on the explosive power and muscular strength of the athletes. In jumps, throws, athletics and other activities, athletes must be able to use power and speed effectively; Because the increase in strength probably improves their sports performance (40). Explosive leg power in general and vertical jump performance in particular are considered as important elements in the performance of athletes as well as in their daily activities (80). On the other hand, in many sports; Especially in team and racket sports, the ability to quickly change direction and respond to different stimuli is one of the success factors in athletes' performance(71, 84).

Athletes usually use elastic bands as a training method to increase strength performance(91).Relatively inexpensive elastic bands and practical presentation of exercises can even be considered in programs designed for elderly people with limited mobility. These training methods are effective in increasing power, but the overload principle is associated with limitations (92). Since there are variable patterns of elastic bands (more stretch, more resistance), it is necessary to conduct research and investigation to determine the exact amount and how to use the elastic band and the intensity of the exercises (87). By involving more muscle fibers due to the activation of muscle spindles and benefiting from the elastic feature of muscles, these exercises create different functional adaptations in muscles, the result of which is better and more coordinated muscle performance (coordination in the use of muscles) and creating more explosive power in action. This adaptation is more important, especially in disciplines that require long consecutive jumps (22). 

Muscular power of the leg and execution of vertical jump are considered as important elements in the success of athletes' performance (78). Starting acceleration and changing direction is the basis of successful performance in many sports such as football, basketball and table tennis (66, 83).

Power is the ability of the neuromuscular system to produce rapid force and is defined as the product of muscle force produced at movement speed. Therefore, improving the strength and speed of athletes improves their ability to produce power (22). Recently, resistance training has become a component of strength programs (56). Until the last few decades, there was an opinion that using strength training with weights to increase strength leads to a decrease in movement speed, but with the passage of time and the acquisition of various experiences and researches, it became clear that by implementing different training programs, factors such as power, strength or both can be strengthened together (7, 69). Increasing strength in resistance training is associated with slow movements. Therefore, an athlete may have a lot of lean muscle mass, but lack the ability to perform fast and powerful movements. To solve this problem, ballistic (throwing) exercises by moving objects such as medicine ball, hammer throw, heavy bags and plyometric exercises have been used, which improves the speed of power generation (22). This can be defined as overcoming resistance to high speed (54).

In taekwondo and many other sports, the ability to produce maximum power in the shortest time is considered as achieving sports performance. Elastic bands are relatively cheap and its exercises can be used in sports programs. These training methods are effective in increasing power, but the principle of overload is associated with limitations (54). 

One of the other training methods with a long history is weight training. Historically, these exercises were meant to increase strength and muscle size. But nowadays, different people use strength training in order to increase strength, speed and increase muscle stiffness and tone, help in rehabilitation and prevent injuries and help maintain muscle function in old age (19). 

"Adams" et al. showed in 1992 that compared to plyometric and resistance exercises with weights, combined plyometric exercise with weights is a more powerful stimulus for improving vertical jump; While "Clach" and colleagues did not report a difference between the results of plyometric training compared to weight training or combined training in improving explosive power or other factors of physical fitness (22). 

Agha Alinejad et al.(2005), in a research entitled describing and determining the relationship between anthropometric and physiological characteristics with the success of taekwondo athletes, showed that there is a significant effect between BMI, speed, anaerobic power, agility, fat percentage and reaction time with the success of top female taekwondo athletes (25).

The Aim of the study was to Investigate the effects of elastic resistance training on anthropometric and physiological factors in Taekwondo teenagers. A total of 30 participants with a mean age of 52 ± 1.12 years, height 17.9 ± 148 cm and weight 09.09 ± 42 kg, with a years experience in the field of Taekwondo Kuchsfhan on a voluntary basis for those who participated in the study and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and control. speed, agility, maximum strength, explosive power, percent body fat, lean mass and BMI were measured before and after the energy program.