Increased adaptability of young judo sportsmen after protein supplementation

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of protein supplementation on adaptation process in young judoists. The assumption of this study was that young sportsmen would benefit from the protein supplements because of increased demand due to growth and training.

Twelve judoists were divided into two groups. One group received a soy protein supplement 0.5 g/kg body mass/day (P) and the second group (C) did not. Before and after 4 weeks of training the maximum oxygen uptake (VO(2max)) was evaluated in both groups. In addition, they performed Wingate test, where the maximal power output and the total work output were measured.

The obtained results indicate that after 4 weeks of judo training the VO(2max) increase and Wingate test performance significantly improves. In both cases the increase was much higher in judoists who received the protein supplement, comparing to the control group. When the judoist were trained for another 3 months but without the protein supplementation, we observed disappearance of the differences in VO(2max) between the two studied groups.

These data clearly indicate that the supplementation of a normal diet with soy protein (0.5 g per kg of body mass) is beneficial for a judoist. An increase in aerobic and anaerobic performance is higher in the protein supplemented group, despite the fact that the training protocol is the same for all the athletes. We conclude that it is possible to increase the adaptation to judo training by protein supplementation.