Application of physiotherapeutic methods to support training and post-exercise recovery of combat sports and martial arts contestants

Physical effort causes numerous changes in musclar tissue. They include among others fatigue, damages to muscle fibers, inflammatory changes, pain during physical effort, as well as after it [1]. Physical fatigue of muscles is a physiologi cal defensive reaction of the body, preventing muscular cell damage and formation of harmful products of metabolism. Rea sons for fatigue depend on intensity and duration of physical effort. They can be divided into two groups: muscular (peripheral fatigue) and depending on the central nervous system (central fatigue) [2]. An essential element of the training process is rest and regeneration of the body. Rest means pauses between efforts (trainings), while regenration involves restoration of exercise capacity of the body. For this purpose numerous physiotherapy treatments, such as massage, sauna or cryotherapy, are applied [3,4]. Application of the above mentioned treatments aims at accelerating and improving the process of post-exercise restitution, as well as injury prevention, treatment of al rea dy existing injuries, compensation of muscular dystonia or improving movement quality [5-7]. Selection of treatments supporting training and biological regeneration of athletes cannot be accidental. Planning and programming biological regeneration should be individualized and thought through, it should correspond to the trainng cycle, cooperate with the implemented training, complete it and prepare athletes for participation in contests. In biological regeneration numerous physiotherapeutic, psychoregulatory and kinesiotherapeutic treatments are applied. It is recom -