The changes in body build and strength in female after a 4-month combined judo and strength training program

In judo great significance is attached to the development of strength, which is crucial for performing offensive and defensive actions during fights. Another aspect of strength training is improvement of body build and general physical health of female athletes. The present study aims to estimate the changes of strength and body composition in non-elite female judoists from academic sports clubs after a combined judo and strength training program. The study examined changes in body build and muscle strength in 20 female judoists participating in judo training and additional adaptive strength training. The anthropometric, physical and motoric measurements were performed twice at four months interval, before and after a combined training program. After the completion of the training program, significant increases of about 10 kg in back muscle strength and of about 2 kg in hand grip strength were noted. No increases in muscle mass and body girths were observed; however, fat mass decreased for about 0.6 kg, which was additionally confirmed by skinfolds thickness measurements. Body mass and BMI remained unchanged. The analysis using Sheldon’s somatotypes revealed a tendency towards lower endomorphy among the studied judoists after four months training period. The results of the present study indicate that even experienced but non-elite academic female judoists could improve their back muscle strength, handgrip strength, and body composition by completing the proposed strength training program along with judo training.