## 2 Materials and Methods
### Preliminary Study  
STAGE I--examinations were performed in the morning, 2 h after a light meal. During the first stage of the study, basic measurements of anthropometric variables (body height (BH) and body mass (BM)) were measured and used to calculate the Quetelet II index (BMI) according to [PERSON] [39]. Lean body mass (LBM) was also estimated. Body surface area (BSA) and the ratio of body surface area to body mass (BSA:BM-1) were also calculated. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured in the athletes for diagnostic purposes. STAGES II and III--examinations were performed on the same day as Stage I after a 2 h interval. In the preliminary study of Stage II, the participants performed exercise tests with the lower limbs (LL) to evaluate anaerobic and aerobic capacity. After 7 days, Stage III of  
Figure 1: Study design. the examinations started, in which the participants performed the same exercise tests once more, but using the upper limbs (UL). Anthropometric variables were measured before the exercise tests in both stages. The Wingate test for LL and UL was used to evaluate anaerobic capacity indices [40]. The main effort was preceded by a 5 min warm-up on a cycle ergometer at an individually selected intensity of 50% VO\({}_{\text{2 max}}\) and a rate of 60 rpm, with 3, 5 s maximal accelerations at minutes 2, 4 and 5. Two min after the warm-up, participants performed a 30 s maximal effort. In the first case--LL, the external resistance was 8.3% of the participant's body mass, whereas in the second case--UL, this totalled 4.5% of body mass [40]. The load was selected based on a pilot study [1; 6; 29]. Total work (TW) and peak power output (RPP) were analysed during the test. Anaerobic capacity, which included both phosphagen and glycolytic components, was evaluated on the basis of analysis regarding the aforementioned indices using the Wingate test. A minimum of 2 h after completing the Wingate Test, subjects performed the aerobic capacity test. The graded test until refusal, routinely used at the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, AWF, Krakow, was performed at an ambient temperature of 21 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C and relative humidity of 40 \(\pm\) 3%. In both cases, a 2 min warm-up on a cycle ergometer at a pedalling rate (RPM) of 60 revolutions per minute and intensity of 110 W for LL and 60 W for UL was implemented. Next, power was increased every 2 min by 20 W for the lower limb and 12 W for the upper limb test. The exercise continued until the participant declared he was not able to maintain the RPM at 60. In the main part of the examinations, half of the judo athletes performed 5 restrictive sequences of pulsating efforts alternately on a leg cycle ergometer and hand cycle ergometer in a thermal chamber at 21 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C (stage IV) and the other half at 31 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C (Stage V), 50% \(\pm\) 5% relative humidity. After 7 days, needed for the extinction of any effects of exercise, the subjects resumed stages IV and V. This time, the first group of participants performed exercises at 31 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C, whereas the second group performed them at 21 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
The efforts differed from typical interval exercises due to the alternating (pulsating) loading of the upper and lower limbs, varying in time, during anaerobic exercise series separated by 15 min rest intervals. A single series sequence of pulsating efforts was performed according to the pattern presented below and repeated 5 times (Table 2). The global duration of the experiment including 5 series of pulsating efforts and 4, 15 min intervals between each effort sequence was 96 min 20 s.  
The pulsating efforts at both temperatures were preceded by a 30 min acclimation to thermal conditions followed by a 5 min warm-up with an individually selected load of 50% VO\({}_{\text{2 max}}\) at a rate of 60 rpm, with 3, 5-second maximal accelerations at minutes 2, 4 and 5.