This article reports an experience that is part of an investigation about elite judo athletes. The purpose of this study is to communicate, to the scientific community, the methodology employed, to describe the procedures and difficulties faced to carry out this methodology. In this experiment, 155 blood lactate samples were made in judo athletes who participated in an international competition that took place Porto Alegre, in July, 1997. The athletes, who were of the judo team from Porto Alegre, and previously selected, n = 21, were submitted to blood samples taken from the ear lobule before and after the fights. In addition, all athletes participating in the final fights of the respective categories were encouraged to undergo a blood sample at the end of the fight. The athletes' heart rate was verified by radial palpation in 15 s, at the moment the blood was sampled. The portable lactate analyzer AccusportTM (Boehringer Mannheim Corp., Mannheim, Germany) was used together with Test Strips BM Lactate and disposable micro-lancet pens of the same brand. The authors concluded that the use of the methodology and equipment described above are appropriate for this kind of population and circumstance, and that the results obtained may contribute to evaluate the athletes' effort intensity.
Judo; Lactate; Assessment; Athletes; Competition