Sung YC, et al. – This analysis ascertained if the negative changes in body composition, blood lipid profiles, and metabolic biomarkers occurred in elite collegiate Taekwondo (TKD) athletes while experiencing a two–months de–training period. A two–months de–training period led to adverse effects on early atherogenic dyslipidemia development, progressing insulin resistance, low–grade inflammation and visceral adiposity in the study cohort. Clear insights were yielded into the possible deleterious effects, at early stage retirement, in former combative sports athletes.

Methods

• The recruitment involved 14 collegiate Division I elite TKD athletes (age: 21.1 ± 0.2 years, BMI: 22.3 ± 1.1 kg/m²; 10 males and 4 females).
• An estimation was performed of the body composition, blood lipid profiles, atherogenic dyslipidemia indexes, metabolic biomarkers and baseline systemic inflammation states, prior to and after two-months of de-training.

Results

• There was no difference in the body weight and BMI after de-training.
• The total muscle mass prominently declined after de-training (-2.0%, p = 0.019), with an increase in fat mass (+24.3%, p < 0.01).
• The blood triglyceride did not vary. However, the total cholesterol was found to be higher after de-training (+8.3%, p = 0.047).
• The CHOL-to-HDL and LDL-to-HDL ratios increased by 12.4% (p < 0.001) and 13.2% (p = 0.002) after de-training, respectively.
• The blood platelet number, plateletcrit, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio raised notably by 5.0% (p = 0.013), 7.3% (p = 0.009), and 20.6% (p = 0.018) after de-training, respectively.
• The McAuley’s Index decreased (-6.9%, p = 0.025) after de-training.