OPTIMAL LOAD FOR THE PEAK POWER AND MAXIMAL STRENGTH OF THE UPPER BODY IN BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU ATHLETES

We determined the optimal load for the peak power output (PPO) during the bench press throw (BPT) in Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) athletes and compared the PPO and maximal strength between advanced (AD) and nonadvanced (NA) athletes. Twenty-eight BJJ athletes (24.8 +/- 5.7 years) performed the BPT at loads of 30, 40, 50, and 60% of their 1 repetition maximum (RM) in a randomized order (5-minute rest between BPTs). The PPO was determined by measuring the barbell displacement by an accelerometer (Myotest). The absolute (F = 7.25; p < 0.001; effect size [ES] = 0.21) and relative intensities were different (F = 7.11; p < 0.001; ES = 0.21) between the AD and NA. There was also a group and intensity interaction effect (F = 2.79; p = 0.046; ES = 0.10), but the differences were centered around the AD group, which achieved higher values using 40% (p = 0.001) and 50% of the 1RM (p < 0.001) than the PPO with 60% of 1RM. The AD athletes presented with higher 1RM than NA (p <= 0.05; ES = 1.0), but there was no difference (p > 0.05) in the PPO (30-60% 1RM). A polynomial adjustment indicated that the optimal load was; similar to 42% of 1RM for all groups and subgroups (R-2 from 0.82 to 0.99). Our results suggest that there can be (1RM) differences between AD and NA BJJ athletes; however, there is no difference in the muscle power between the AD and NA groups. Additionally, similar to 42% of 1RM seems to be the optimal load for developing maximal power using the BPT for the BJJ athletes.