IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p2015-d746869.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance Alteration Induced by Weight Cutting in Mixed Martial Arts—A Biomechanical Pilot Investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Yufeng Liu

    (Department of Physical Education, Xinzhou Teachers’ University, Xinzhou 034000, China
    The authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jared Evans

    (Biomechanics Lab, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
    The authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jacek Wąsik

    (Department Kinesiology and Health Prevention, Jan Długosz University in Czestochowa, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland)

  • Xiang Zhang

    (Department of Physical Education, Xinzhou Teachers’ University, Xinzhou 034000, China)

  • Gongbing Shan

    (Department of Physical Education, Xinzhou Teachers’ University, Xinzhou 034000, China
    Biomechanics Lab, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada)

Abstract

Currently, there are pros and cons of research results related to weight cutting in combat sports, resulting in inconclusive results regarding the effects of weight-cut on athletes’ performance, and biomechanical investigations are hardly seen. Therefore, this pilot study tried to fill the gap by initiating an exploration in real-life competitions. It is our hope to add biomechanical insights (advantages/disadvantages) that would discern the impact of weight cutting on competitive performance and help to structure hypotheses in future research. The method consisted of 3D motion capture, EMG measurement and biomechanical modeling. Through the synchronized data, striking power, striking accuracy and reaction time were quantitatively determined. Pre- and post-test design was used to test common strikes before weight cutting and 24 h after weigh-in. Seven male athletes from local clubs were tested during regional competitions. Results were characterized by using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and T-tests were performed to contrast differences between the pre- and post-tests. This pilot study has revealed that there is actually weight-regain instead of weight-loss. The weight-regain would speed up the perceptional and total reaction, slow down the limbs’ movement, worsen the striking accuracy and, possibly, decrease the strike power. The preliminary results are inconclusive regarding the competitive advantages/disadvantages induced by weight cutting. Further biomechanical studies are needed to deal with the controversial subject more objectively and scientifically.

Suggested Citation

  • Yufeng Liu & Jared Evans & Jacek Wąsik & Xiang Zhang & Gongbing Shan, 2022. "Performance Alteration Induced by Weight Cutting in Mixed Martial Arts—A Biomechanical Pilot Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2015-:d:746869
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2015/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2015/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2015-:d:746869. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.