Training programme planning and monitoring in Combat Sports

22.03.2024, 15:00 CET

Combat sports are gaining an increased interest globally and this is also reflected by a rapid growth of scientific research in various aspects of combat sports. There is a large number of combat sports, with six of them being included in the modern Olympic Games (boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, wrestling and boxing), while several others, such as mixed martial arts (MMA) are practiced at professional level and are liked by a large number of people. Combat sports practice and competition is quite demanding and elicits marked physiological, endocrine and biochemical responses which should be understood and subsequently used to build appropriate and effective training programs. This webinar will provide an insight into the load imposed on the athletes and its appropriate monitoring and management to optimize physiological and motor skill adaptations. Several tools will be presented for sport-specific fitness testing and time-motion analysis, which may be used to describe an athlete’s profile and to modify training according to their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, important considerations for the young combat sports athletes will be presented, focusing on skill acquisition, training progressions and growth/maturation.

Prof. Gregory C. Bogdanis
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Amelia Guadalupe Grau, PhD
Associate Professor of Sport Sciences
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Christopher Kirk, PhD
Senior Lecturer of Sport and Exercise Physiology, Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom

"Monitoring training load and performance outcome measures in MMA"

Mixed martial arts (MMA) are characterised by the application and combination of striking and grappling skills taken from multiple other combat sports. The event requires repeated high impulse actions supported by developed aerobic and anaerobic energy resynthesis over a maximum duration of 9 minutes for amateurs and 15-25 minutes for professionals. As such, training for this sport is focused on improving a very diverse range of technical-tactical skills whilst attaining potentially conflicting physiological adaptations. Due to the young age and rapid development of the sport over the last 30 years, little is currently known about the optimal training load practices for MMA performance. This presentation, therefore, will discuss what is understood about the current training practices of MMA athletes and how we may support this population to meet the demands of their sport.

Craig Bridge, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology, Sports Performance Research Group, Edge Hill University, United Kingdom

"Physiological, endocrine and biochemical responses during competition and training in combat sports"

The demands of combat sports competition elicit marked physiological, endocrine and biochemical responses. Understanding the responses to competition and training are important to inform the structure of conditioning for competition, training periodization and associated recovery and nutritional strategies. This session provides insight into the typical physiological, endocrine and biochemical responses imposed by combat sports competition and discusses potential implications for training and recovery. The limitations of existing research and areas for future research are also considered.

Coral Falco, PhD
Professor in Sports, Physical Education, and Health, Faculty of Education, Culture and Sports / Department of Sports, Nutrition and Natural Sciences / Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway

"How to use performance analysis information to organise combat sports training?"

The 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris. From 07.08.2024 to 10.08.2024, the 128 best taekwondo athletes will take part in the most important event after the World Championship. It is a dream come true for all of them. But what is needed to be able to achieve that dream? How can science help our taekwondo athletes to achieve this goal? The aim of this webinar is to share with taekwondo researchers, coaches and athletes, what science tells us about the performance of taekwondo athletes at different levels. Emphasis will be given to what information we can obtain through different combat analysis, and how we can use that information to plan and organise our training. We will discuss different physical tests, time motion analysis, injury prevention, as well as observational analysis.

David H. Fukuda, PhD
Professor, Division of Kinesiology, University of Central Florida, United States of America

"What are the key elements for long-term athlete development in combat sports?"

This presentation will cover some of the complexities facing those tasked with providing support for young combat sports athletes, including participation, specialisation, maturation, and performance. Several topics ranging from skill acquisition and physical fitness to weight category considerations and training progressions will be discussed.