## 4 Discussion
In the present study, an attempt to solve this problem was made by instructing athletes to work on a cycle ergometer with alternating use of the lower (LL) and upper limbs (UL). The authors' sequence of anaerobic interval efforts included the temporal structure of both single and competitive bouts. Such an effort, although it does not reflect the actual load on the body as in a competitive fight, is to a large extent similar. The series of pulsating anaerobic exercises were performedon the leg and arm ergometers in an attempt to mimic single and competitive judo bouts in terms of time and intensity. In competitive settings, an athlete performs an average of five bouts of varying intensity, with an exercise duration of about 8 min [17; 48; 54]. It should be emphasized that anaerobic interval efforts performed by the upper and lower limbs engaged more muscle chains than when they are applied selectively, which also resulted in greater changes in physiological and biochemical indices. The experimentally obtained data on the functional properties of a judo athlete's body, as shown by the authors' previous research, are often correlated with the athlete's sports skill level [51; 55]. In sports competitions, judo athletes very often use their upper limbs to perform throws or other technical actions that are decisive in the course of the fight [56; 57]. Therefore, in the authors' opinion, analysis of exercise capacity for UL efforts should become a part of tests evaluating exercise capacity among athletes of combat sports, including judo. In the first and third series of anaerobic LL exercises at 21 \({}^{\circ}\)C, there was a statistically significant (\(p<0.001\)) decrease in relative peak power (RPP) between the first and fourth repetitions. There were no statistically significant differences in RPP between the first and fourth repetitions of anaerobic exercise in the second, fourth and fifth series. A similar pattern of results was observed during the effort series at 31 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Statistically significant changes in RPP occurred between the 1 st and 4 th repetitions in the first, second, third and fifth series, and in the fourth series between the first and second repetitions of anaerobic exercise. UL efforts at 21 \({}^{\circ}\)C showed statistically significant differences between the second and third repetitions of anaerobic efforts in the first series of tests, and between the first and fourth repetitions in the second and third series. In the fourth and fifth series, there were no statistically significant differences between RPP recorded in individual repetitions of the anaerobic efforts at 21 \({}^{\circ}\)C. A similar pattern of changes was observed in the following studies, in which it has been shown how the exercise intensity during the exercise tests decreased with increasing relative ambient temperature. This is likely due to fatigue caused by changing thermal conditions [58; 59]. At 31 \({}^{\circ}\)C, differences occurred only between repetitions in the second series of anaerobic efforts between the first versus second and third repetitions. No significant differences were observed in the other series. Although inconsistent with some suggestions of previous researchers, this pattern of results demonstrates that in anaerobic interval exercise, the thermal factor of exogenous origin (different ambient temperature) did not differentiate between the anaerobic exercise capacity of judo athletes [60]. It is virtually impossible to develop an anaerobic test for judo athletes that reliably simulates a competitive fight. This is due to the high complexity of movements and the inability to programme direct contact with the opponent, which is known to affect the extent of micro- and macro-injuries to the musculoskeletal system. The efforts proposed in the study are performed at the highest possible intensity of anaerobic metabolism during work with LL and UL.