The effects of one day wrestling tournament on muscle damage and delayed onset muscle soreness of male wrestlers

The aim of this study was to investigate muscle damage and following delayed onset muscle soreness of elite wrestlers after one-day wrestling tournament. The study sample consists of 20 male wrestlers from Dumlupinar University School of Physical Education and Sports who are the contestant and have national degrees. The wrestlers voluntarily participated in the study. Measurements of the sampling group’s features such as height and weight etc. were made after 12 weeks of preparation and 3 days of rest before the one-day competition. Venous blood samples were taken from the wrestlers before the first competition and after the fifth competition and serum, Creatine Kinase values were measured. In the evaluation of pre and post tournament measurement results, dependent samples t-test was applied at %99 significance value and Likert-type pain scale was used in order to determine muscle pain of the wrestlers. The wrestlers were asked to specify their muscle pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the most severe pain) and pain values of the wrestlers were determined before the competition, after the 1st, 3rd, 5th competitions and after 24 and 48 hours. Analyze results revealed that creatine kinase level of the wrestlers was (155.35 ± 44.89) before the tournament and (644.50 ± 216.73) after the tournament and both creatine kinase level and muscle pain values significantly increased after the tournament. As a result, this study showed that after one day wrestling tournament muscle damage occurs in wrestlers and even after 48 hours following muscle pain continues.