The Fatigue of Lower Limbs Decreases Velocity of Punches

Sports related fatigue is related to physiological, neuromechanical, biomechanical and/or psychological factors. Understanding how these factors occur in specific workloads can help athletes and coaches to perform better. The purpose of this study was to determine how fatigue affects the linear velocity of punches in karate. Sixteen karate athletes were evaluated with Fitness Special Karate Test (FSKT) containing five sets of 10 s of punching for 10 s of passive recovery before and after (FSKT plus 30 s of jumping squats) a 60 min interval. The velocity of punches was measured using the full body biomechanical model of the Vicon System. The fatigue in lower limbs jeopardizes the punches peak velocity and the most affected phases were during extension and recovery of attack arm. The number and peak velocity decreases, especially in last set of tests.