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Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review

The aim of this review was to analyze the existing knowledge of the anthropometric and physiological characteristics of MMA (mixed martial arts). A computerized search was performed in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases for English-language, peer-reviewed investigations using the term “mixed ma...

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Autores principales: Spanias, Charalampos, Nikolaidis, Pantelis T., Rosemann, Thomas, Knechtle, Beat
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628448/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31207879
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports7060146
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author Spanias, Charalampos
Nikolaidis, Pantelis T.
Rosemann, Thomas
Knechtle, Beat
author_facet Spanias, Charalampos
Nikolaidis, Pantelis T.
Rosemann, Thomas
Knechtle, Beat
author_sort Spanias, Charalampos
collection PubMed
description The aim of this review was to analyze the existing knowledge of the anthropometric and physiological characteristics of MMA (mixed martial arts). A computerized search was performed in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases for English-language, peer-reviewed investigations using the term “mixed martial arts” or “MMA” alone and in combination with “physiological characteristics”, “physiological profile”, “body composition”, “strength”, “power”, “endurance”, “aerobic”, and “anaerobic”. The main findings of this review suggested an overall profile of low body fat, high flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance, and anaerobic power, and average cardiovascular endurance. Nevertheless, no differences in anthropometric and physiological characteristics by performance level of the athletes were observed. Based on the studies analyzed in this review, several limitations were reported. First, the subjects in each paper were limited in number, as is MMA literature itself, and it is impossible to make a generalization regarding the anthropometric and physiological profile for male athletes. Second, no studies included female MMA athletes; therefore, there was no evidence for what their profiles might be. Last, the majority of the above-mentioned studies used different tests, or the same tests with different protocols, and as a result, it is difficult to compare their results. The similarity observed between the levels of the athletes might be a result of the different tests and protocols used by the researchers or might be evidence that the anthropometric and physiological profile of an MMA athlete did not vary among high-level athletes. Considering the increasing number of those engaging in MMA training and sport events, the findings of the present study provided strength and conditioning trainers working with MMA athletes a valuable tool for monitoring training and performance.
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spelling pubmed-66284482019-07-23 Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review Spanias, Charalampos Nikolaidis, Pantelis T. Rosemann, Thomas Knechtle, Beat Sports (Basel) Review The aim of this review was to analyze the existing knowledge of the anthropometric and physiological characteristics of MMA (mixed martial arts). A computerized search was performed in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases for English-language, peer-reviewed investigations using the term “mixed martial arts” or “MMA” alone and in combination with “physiological characteristics”, “physiological profile”, “body composition”, “strength”, “power”, “endurance”, “aerobic”, and “anaerobic”. The main findings of this review suggested an overall profile of low body fat, high flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance, and anaerobic power, and average cardiovascular endurance. Nevertheless, no differences in anthropometric and physiological characteristics by performance level of the athletes were observed. Based on the studies analyzed in this review, several limitations were reported. First, the subjects in each paper were limited in number, as is MMA literature itself, and it is impossible to make a generalization regarding the anthropometric and physiological profile for male athletes. Second, no studies included female MMA athletes; therefore, there was no evidence for what their profiles might be. Last, the majority of the above-mentioned studies used different tests, or the same tests with different protocols, and as a result, it is difficult to compare their results. The similarity observed between the levels of the athletes might be a result of the different tests and protocols used by the researchers or might be evidence that the anthropometric and physiological profile of an MMA athlete did not vary among high-level athletes. Considering the increasing number of those engaging in MMA training and sport events, the findings of the present study provided strength and conditioning trainers working with MMA athletes a valuable tool for monitoring training and performance. MDPI 2019-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6628448/ /pubmed/31207879 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports7060146 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Spanias, Charalampos
Nikolaidis, Pantelis T.
Rosemann, Thomas
Knechtle, Beat
Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title_full Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title_fullStr Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title_full_unstemmed Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title_short Anthropometric and Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Art Athletes: A Brief Review
title_sort anthropometric and physiological profile of mixed martial art athletes: a brief review
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628448/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31207879
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports7060146
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