The Effect of Functional Training on the Physical Strength Factor of Elite TAEKWONDO Athletes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of functional exercise program for 6 weeks(three times a week, 60 minutes / session) on eight elite Taekwondo players. The data were processed using SPSS/PC 18.0 program and the mean and standard deviation were calculated. The effect of functional exercise program was applied to the paired sample t-test. Results, Body composition items were weight(p <.001), BMI(p <.001), In addition, functional exercise program effect was Back strength(P <.01), sit-up(p <.01), repeated jump(p <.01) and side step(p <.01) were found to be effective in basic physical fitness items. In addition, there was statistically significant difference(p <.05) in all the measurement items as a result of Wingate test, an anaerobic exercise ability item before and after applying the functional exercise program. The maximal graded exercise test using treadmill showed a significant improve-ment(p <.05) in maximum oxygen uptake(VO2max), exercise duration, and blood lactate concentration. Results of this study, the functional exercise program used in this study is proposed as an appropriate program to improve the fitness factors required for Taekwondo training