The Design of a Simulation Training Protocol of Taekwondo Competitions According to Profile of Heart Rate, Blood Lactate and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Changes

Physical injuries during taekwondo competitions often happen due to physical contacts during fighting; therefore, a training protocol was designed in line with the physiological stress of a real competition according to LA, HR and RPE changes so that the athletes could perform the techniques with a pad instead of a real opponent. For this purpose, 12 professional taekwondo players from national team (mean age 22+3 yr) participated in this study purposively. Anthropometric characteristics and aerobic capacity were estimated using an exhaustive aerobic treadmill protocol and anaerobic power was estimated by the RAST test. Subjects performed the stimulation protocol according with the Olympic weight style. Blood lactate and heart rate were measured with polar telemetry and Burg's RPE10 profile before the competition, at the end of each three rounds, at the end of the third round and in stimulation protocol with pads. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the data mean. No significant differences were observed between the two conditions of competition and simulation training in HR, LA and RPE (P>0.05). The stimulation protocol inserts a psychophysiological stress in line with real competitions on taekwondo player's performance; therefore, this protocol can replace preseason competitions before competitions when the incidence of injury is high.