Abstract:
Karate is one of the most attractive combat sports that millions of people practice
worldwide. This experimental study was conducted on a purposively selected
sample of 8 male karate athletes (n1=8) and 8 female karate athletes (n2=8) in the
20-35 years age limit, following vigorous physical training. It was identified that
most karate athletes were physically exhausted, suffered from chronic injuries, and
were mentally depressed due to the existing training schedule. The study aimed
to determine the variance of maximum heart rates (HR max) and maximum
oxygen capacity (VO2 max) between male and female karate athletes by
implementing the Harvard Step Test (HST), a validated field test that can be
performed simplistically in the training environment. The data relating to the basic
demography and medical history of subjects were obtained by a researcherdeveloped
questionnaire and the degree of physical exhaustion and the mentality
of the sample gathered by observation, and interviews. The data were analyzed
using the t-test (two samples assuming unequal variance). According to the results,
the mean HR max of male karate athletes was 184 (beats/min) and the mean HR
max of female karate athletes was 146.3 (beats/min). There was a significant
statistical difference (p=0.001) in HR max between male (mean HR max) and
female karate athletes (mean HR max). However, there was no significant
difference in male and female VO2 max (43.7 ml.kg-1.min-1, 42.3 ml.kg-1.min-1,
p=0.78). The study suggested that gender, age, anthropometrics, HR max, and VO2
max of every subject are highly considered to create individual training schedules
effectively.
