Taekwondo requires both anaerobic and aerobic fitness. Athletes must carefully manage their weight to compete in specific weight categories, which often requires losing weight rapidly before weigh-ins. Extreme weight loss methods should be avoided, as they can impair performance and health. A healthy diet with adequate hydration and nutrients is important for fuelling training and recovery. In the days before competition, a low residue diet and decreased fluid intake can help athletes safely lose up to 5% of their body weight to make weight. Proper rehydration and refueling after weigh-ins is also important to prepare for competition.

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3 Taekwondo
S u b j e c t : S p o r t s N u t r i t i o n
by Sayeda Ramsha Fatema

2. CONTENT
Introduction
01
Weight Managment
02
Hydration Needs
03
Diet in Taekwondo
04
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9 Introduction
01

4. Introduction
Taekwondo:
• Taekwondo is a Korean art of self defence which requires a high degree of
fitness and co-ordination. Taekwondo competition consists of 3 x 3 minute
rounds involving a rapid series of punches and kicks with 1-minute rest in
between each round. During a tournament athletes maybe required to
compete from 5-8 times over a day to reach the finals.
• Competition therefore requires a level of anaerobic fitness but a high level
of aerobic fitness is also needed to enable the athlete to recover and
maintain performance throughout several rounds and over a tournament.

5. Introduction

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3 Weight
Managment
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7. Weight Managment
• Taekwondo is a weight-category sport (see table below for weight divisions).
Athletes are required to ‘weigh-in’ the day before competition. As with many
weight-category sports, athletes often aim to compete at the higher end of the
division weight range to gain an advantage over lighter opponents.
• To achieve this, athletes often train above their competition day weight. This
means that prior to competition athletes need to decrease their body weight
over a short period of time in order to ‘make weight’. Some methods used by
athletes to rapidly lose weight are inappropriate and impair performance.
• It is important that athletes select a weight category based on previous
weight/skinfolds, growth, competition goals and the minimum weight that will
not compromise health. Maintaining a fully hydrated body weight of no greater
than 3-5% of their competitive weight is a good goal for most athletes and will
prevent the need for extreme weight loss practices.

8. Weight Managment
Weight division Female Male
Fly weight < 49 kg < 58 kg
Feather weight 49 – 57 kg 58 – 68 kg
Welter weight 57 – 67 kg 68 – 80 kg
Heavy weight 67 kg + 80 kg +
Table 1: Weight division for taekwondo

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3 Hydration
Needs
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10. Hydration Needs
• Many athletes who are conscious of their weight will adequately replace sweat
losses following training as this will show up as increased body weight on the
scales. This should be discouraged as fluid weight is easily manipulated in the
short term and there is no place for this in the day-day to day training
environment.
• Athletes should drink fluids with all meals and snacks and drink during training.
Sports drinks are generally not required at training sessions, however can be
useful at competitions. A good indication of adequate hydration status is to aim
for pale yellow urine over the day. Some athletes who have not taken their
nutritional preparation seriously revert to high levels of dehydration (using
saunas and sweat suits) to make weight. This is not wise as excessive
dehydration is difficult to recover from and can be detrimental to performance
and increase the risk of heat stroke. Under the supervision of an Accredited
Sports Dietitian, mild levels dehydration can be used safely to help make
weight but any fluid lost must be replaced following weigh-in.

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Taekwondo
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12. Diet in Taekwondo
• In order for athletes to reach their maximum nutrition potential during training it
is important to be adequately fuelled and hydrated. Taekwondo athletes often
opt to compete at a weight category that is lower than their typical training
weight hence it is not uncommon to see athletes adopting inappropriate
strategies to achieve rapid weight loss in a short time. Methods such as severe
food and fluid restriction, excessive exercise, the use of saunas, laxatives and
diuretics can compromise nutritional goals, impair performance and increase the
risk for potential medical problems.
• In order to safely achieve a desired weight, energy intake must match training
load as precisely as possible. This not only allows for adequate fuel to cope with
training demands but also prevents undesired weight gain. The athlete diet
should therefore focus on nutrient dense foods with very little room left for
highly processed treat foods. Consulting an Accredited Sports Dietitian can help
you develop a meal plan to achieve your training and competition goals.
Diet During Training:

13. Diet in Taekwondo
Diet Before Compitition:
MAKING WEIGHT:
• There are several tips that can help an athlete achieve their target weight over the
2-3 days prior to competition. Some athletes try to fast before competition to
minimise the amount of food inside the gut; however, this prevents optimal pre-
competition fuelling. A better alternative is the use of low residue foods
consumed 24-48 hours before competition. Selecting low fibre cereals (e.g. Rice
Bubbles), white breads, pureed fruit and liquid meal replacements can minimise
the amount of undigested food in the gut, while also giving important
carbohydrate (fuel).
• An athlete who regularly eats a high fibre diet may lose 1-1.5% of the body weight
in 2 days using a low residue diet; weight loss in addition to this will need to be
derived from fluid losses. Avoiding excessive salt intake in the days before weigh-
in can help with minimising fluid retention.

14. Diet in Taekwondo
AFTER THE WEIGH-IN:
• The time between weigh-in and competition provides a window of
opportunity to fuel-up, hydrate and recover from any short-term weight loss
strategies. Providing excessive weight (>5% body weight) is not lost in the
days before weigh-in, recovery can be achieved the between weigh-in and
competition. Consuming 150% of fluid losses in sodium containing fluids in
small frequent drinks will best achieve rehydration (i.e. if an athlete loses 2kg
from restricting fluid intake and/or sweating, then 3 litres of a sodium
containing beverage will be required). Consuming meal(s) high in
carbohydrate following weigh-in will increase fuel stores needed for
competition.
• Drinking less fluid than normal in the 24 hours before weigh-in will further
decrease weight and should be used in preference to increased sweating. If
after following a low fibre diet and decreased fluid intake, further weight loss
is required, an athlete will need to use sweating techniques. It is important to
understand that the more fluid an athlete loses to make weight the greater
the need for fluid and sodium following the weigh-in to rehydrate.

15. 2014
Diet in Taekwondo
Eating and drinking during competition:
• On competition morning, athletes should eat a familiar breakfast high in
carbohydrate 3-4 hours before their first scheduled bout. Aside from
breakfast, timing meals around competition may be difficult as times of bouts
are often hard to predict. To ensure that athletes keep fuel stores ‘topped
up’ snacks should be eaten regularly over the day. This is particularly
important if an athlete is competing in several rounds and opportunities to
eat are limited. Athletes cannot rely on competition venues to provide suitable
foods. Instead, they should pack portable, convenient and familiar snacks
which digest quickly and do not interfere with competition preparation or
leave them feeling bloated or overly full, such as; fruit, muesli bars, sports
bars, dried fruit, crispbread, crackers, jam sandwiches or yoghurt. Nervous
athletes, who find it difficult to eat, may prefer to have liquid based snacks
(e.g. smoothie/sports drink).

16. Diet in Taekwondo
Recovery:
• Recovery from training or competition can be enhanced by eating a meal or
snack containing carbohydrate (to replace muscle glycogen stores); protein (for
muscle repair) and fluid (to replace sweat losses). Sometimes it is not possible to
have a main meal straight after exercise. In these situations eating a snack soon
after training will kick-start recovery until the recovery process is finished at the
next main meal. Examples of recovery snacks that contain carbohydrates,
protein and fluid include:
• Fruit smoothie
• Cereal bar + tetra pack low fat flavoured milk
• Yoghurt + chopped fruit + bottle of water
• Ham and cheese sandwich + bottle of sports drink

17. Diet in Taekwondo
OTHER NUTRITION TIPS:
• Younger athletes should be encouraged to eat a health promoting diet that allows
adequate fuelling for training and for growth. They should move up weight
divisions as they age and grow
• Practice weight making and recovery strategies as well as competition nutrition
outside of important competitions so that athletes are not ‘second guessing’
nutrition at important times
• Supplements need to be used in conjunction with advice from experts such as a
Accredited Sports Dietitian. Only those shown to be safe, legal, and effective to
enhance performance should be used.

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Thank You