The Effects of Rapid Weight Loss and Attempted Rehydration on Strength and Endurance of the Handgripping Muscles in College Wrestlers

Abstract

Abstract Eleven university wrestlers were tested on three occasions in a 6-min fatigue bout during which the subject squeezed a hand dynamometer maximally and then relaxed every other second until a total of 180 contractions had been completed. Testing was administered (1) following a 5% body weight loss within a 3-day period just prior to testing, (2) after a 5% body weight loss followed by an attempt to rehydrate to the original weight, and (3) under a control condition with no weight loss. All subjects were tested under all conditions with the order of testing assigned at random. One-way ANOVA failed to reveal any effects of the rapid weight loss or attempted rehydration on initial strength, final strength, or the force-time integrals. In addition, a 3 × 13 ANOVA for hydration level across the 13 observation times failed to reveal any interaction between the two factors. A mathematical analysis of the force-time values revealed that fatigue progressed in an exponential pattern described by a curve with two major components.