Respiratory Function Of The Korean Elite Judo Athletes And Non-Athletes

Background and Study Aim: Respiratory function (respiratory system) is important for patients including judo athletes who require sports rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was knowledge about respiratory function of Korean elite judo athletes and non-athletes.Material and Methods: We measured the respiratory function of both 21 elite judo athletes and 21 non-athletes. Respiratory measurements were performed in a sitting position using a spirometer, and the circumference of the participants' chests and abdomens was measured. Respiratory measurements were focused on a forced vital capacity (FVC) graph.Results: Chest circumference was significantly increased in the elite judo athletes compared with the non-athletes. In respirogram phasic analysis, the expiratory, inspiratory, and total area of FVC were significantly increased in the judo athletes compared to the non-athletes. The slopes of respirogram phases, such as the tangent angles, of the FVC were compared between non-athletes and judo athletes. The tangent for athletes at AS2 and AS3 were significantly increased compared to non-athletes. In addition, the tangent of the DS2 and DS3 were significantly increased in judo athletes, respectively. Furthermore, in the correlative analysis, chest and abdominal circumference were not correlated with the area of the FVC. However, the correlation coefficients for the chest circumference and tangent were significantly correlated with the slope of the FVC in AS1 and AS2, respectively.Conclusions: The results suggest that the differences in changes in the phases of the respirogram between the non-athletes and Korean elite judo athletes may in part contribute to our expanding of understanding of respiratory function for professional sports and rehabilitation through sport.