Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 12:13:830229.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.830229. eCollection 2022.

Rapid Weight Loss of Up to Five Percent of the Body Mass in Less Than 7 Days Does Not Affect Physical Performance in Official Olympic Combat Athletes With Weight Classes: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Clóvis De Albuquerque Mauricio  1 , Pablo Merino  1   2 , Rodrigo Merlo  1 , José Jairo Narrea Vargas  1   3 , Juan Ángel Rodríguez Chávez  1 , Diego Valenzuela Pérez  4 , Esteban Ariel Aedo-Muñoz  5 , Maamer Slimani  6 , Ciro José Brito  7 , Nicola Luigi Bragazzi  8 , Bianca Miarka  1
Affiliations

Rapid Weight Loss of Up to Five Percent of the Body Mass in Less Than 7 Days Does Not Affect Physical Performance in Official Olympic Combat Athletes With Weight Classes: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Clóvis De Albuquerque Mauricio et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

Given the relevance of the effects that weight loss can generate on the physical performance in athletes, this study performed a systematic review with meta-analysis of the published literature on rapid weight loss (RWL) and examined its impact on the physical performance in Official Olympic combat sports athletes. The "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis" (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to ensure an ethical and complete reporting of the findings. PubMed, SPORT Discus, and EBSCO were the electronic databases explored for article retrieval and selection. The following string was applied: "RWL" OR "weight loss" OR "weight reduction" AND "judo" OR "wrestling" or "taekwondo" or "boxing" AND "performance." Based on the quality analysis, conducted according to the "Tool for the assessment of study quality and reporting in exercise training studies" (TESTEX), ten articles achieved a score >6 points. The meta-analysis showed a significant difference in pre- vs. post-weight loss (p = 0.003) and no effects in pre- vs. post-power and strength performance analysis (p > 0.05 for both results). Based on our systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature, RWL up to ≤5% of the body mass in less than 7 days does not influence performance outcomes in Official Olympic combat athletes with weight classes, considering the strength and power measures.

Keywords: dehydration; diet; ergogenic aids; martial arts; rapid weight loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prisma flow diagram for study selection.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Meta-analysis considering RWL studies with ∼3% of Olympic combat athletes’ body mass.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Meta-analysis considering RWL studies with ∼5% of Olympic combat athletes’ body mass.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Meta-analysis of the intermittent sprint work and power considering RWL studies with Olympic combat athletes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alderman B. L., Landers D. M., Carlson J., Scott J. R. (2004). Factors related to rapid weight loss practices among international-style wrestlers. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 36 249–252. 10.1249/01.MSS.0000113668.03443.66 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amatori S., Barley O., Gobbi E., Vergoni D., Carraro A., Baldari C., et al. (2020). Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: a Cluster Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17:8727. 10.3390/ijerph17238727 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Artioli G. G., Gualano B., Franchini E., Scagliusi F. B., Takesian M., Fuchs M., et al. (2010a). Prevalence, magnitude, and methods of rapid weight loss among judo competitors. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 42 436–442. 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181ba8055 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Artioli G. G., Iglesias R. T., Franchini E., Gualano B., Kashiwagura D. B., Solis M. Y., et al. (2010b). Rapid weight loss followed by recovery time does not affect judo-related performance. J. Sports Sci. 28 21–32. 10.1080/02640410903428574 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Artioli G. G., Saunders B., Iglesias R. T., Franchini E. (2016). It is Time to Ban Rapid Weight Loss from Combat Sports. Sports Med. 46 1579–1584. 10.1007/s40279-016-0541-x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources