Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of weight reduction prior to a competition on the salivary cortisol level for first-rate judo players. Subjects were divided into three groups by the weight reduction rate. On the day before the competition, the cortisol levels of the low- and high-weight reduction group showed a tendency to decrease and were significantly lower than that of the non-weight reduction group (p<0.05). However, with regard to the change in the stress indices, there was a difference between the high- and low-weight reduction groups. In the high-weight reduction group alone, there was a significant increase in the stress indices on the day before the competition (p<0.05). These findings suggest that the HPA axis is affected during the relatively early stage of weight reduction and mental stress is increased at the higher weight reduction rate.
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Toda, M., Morimoto, K., Fukuda, S. et al. The effect of the weight reduction on the salivary cortisol levels of judo players. Environ Health Prev Med 6, 113–116 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02897956
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02897956