AUTONOMIC CONTROL OF HEART RATE, BLOOD LACTATE AND ACCELERATION DURING COMBAT SIMULATION IN TAEKWONDO ELITE ATHLETES

the aim of the study was to measure the heart rate recovery, blood lactate and movement acceleration during simulated taekwondo competition. twelve male subjects who belong to the national team, with at least five years of experience participated in this research. They performed a simulated combat to evaluate the following variables: (i) Blood lactate after one minute recovery between each round, (ii) Heart rate recovery (HRR) at thirty and sixty seconds in each minute rest between rounds, (iii) Peak acceleration (ACCp) in each round performed. The significance level was set at p < 005. the results showed no significant differences between winners and losers in the HRR at both, thirty and sixty seconds (p > 0.05), blood lactate (p > 0.05), peak acceleration (p > 0.05) and the average acceleration of combat (p = 0.18). There was no correlation between delta lactate and ACCp (r = 0.01; p = 0.93), delta lactate and HRR (r = -0.23; p = 0.18), and ACCp and HRR (r = 0.003; p = 0.98). these data suggest that studied variables would not be decisive in the simulated combat outcomes. Other factors such as technical-tactical or psychological variables could have a significant impact on athletic performance.