%0 Journal Article %T Asymmetry of muscle strength in elite athletes %A Patrik Drid %A Ph.D. %A Miodrag Drapsin %A Ph.D. %A Tatjana Trivic %A Ph.D. %A Damir Luka %A Ph.D. %A Slavko Obadov %A Ph.D. %A Zoran Milosevic %A Ph.D. %J Biomedical Human Kinetics %@ 2080-2234 %D 2009 %I %R 10.2478/v10101-009-0002-1 %X Study aim: To determine muscle strength variables in elite judoists and wrestlers since thigh muscle strength and bilaterally balanced flexor-to-extensor ratio minimise injury risk and are desirable for achieving sport successes. Material and methods: Judoists, wrestlers and untrained subjects, 10 each, were subjected to isokinetic strength measurements of relative peak torques of knee flexor and extensor muscles on "Easy-Tech" dynamometer in concentric-concentric mode. Results: Mean relative peak muscle torques for knee flexors ranged from 1.14 ¡À0.27 (untrained) to 1.57 ¡À0.40 (judoists) N¡¤m/kg and for knee extensors from 2.77 ¡À 0.34 (untrained) to 3.60 ¡À 0.64 (wrestlers) N¡¤m/kg. The flexor-to-extensor ratios ranged from 39.3 ¡À 6.0 to 47.8 ¡À 10.8% and did not differ significantly between groups. Absolute right/left asymmetry for knee flexors ranged from 14.6 ¡À 10.4 to 17.4 ¡À 11.8% and was significantly (p<0.01) higher than for knee extensors (7.2 ¡À 6.8 to 8.6 ¡À 7.7%). All asymmetry indices were significant (p<0.01), no significant between group differences being detected. Conclusions: Implementing new training elements and modalities may improve the performance and prevent lateral asymmetry thus decreasing the risk of injuries. %K Functional asymmetry %K Muscle strength %K Peak torque %K Judo %K Wrestling %U http://versita.metapress.com/content/q36mx1576m2502h0/?p=a281056470ef48038bd0b5a97e7e0654&pi=5