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A new strategy for the somatotype quantification in Elite Soccer Players

Easy-to-apply and quick methods for evaluate body composition are often preferred when assessing soccer teams. This experiment aimed to develop new equations for the somatotype quantification that would reduce the anthropometric measurements required by the Heath and Carter method, integrating the somatotype assessment to the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).One hundred and seventy-six male elite soccer players (age 26.9 +/- 4.5 years), registered in the Italian first division (Serie A), underwent anthropometric measurements and BIA. Endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy were obtained according to the Heath and Carter method, while fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) estimated using a BIA-derived equation specific for athletes. The participants were randomly split into development (n = 117) and validation groups (n = 59, 1/3 of sample). The developed models including resistance/stature, FM%, FFM, contracted arm and calf circumference, triceps, and supraspinal skinfolds had high predictive ability for endomorphy (R2 = 0.83, Standard Error of Estimate (SEE) = 0.16) mesomorphy (R2 = 0.80, SEE = 0.36), and ectomorphy (endomorphy, R2 = 0.87, SEE = 0.22). Cross validation revealed R2 of 0.80, 0.84, 0.87 for endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy, respectively. The proposed strategy allows the integration of somatotype assessment to BIA in soccer players, reducing the number of instruments and measurements required by the Heath and Carter approach.

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Additional Info
Field Value
Group Health Studies
Involved People Rossi, Alessio, alessio.rossi2@gmail.com, orcid.org/0000-0002-6400-5914
State Complete
Thematic Cluster Social Data [SD]
system:type Experiment
Management Info
Field Value
Author Rossi Alessio
Maintainer Rossi Alessio
Version 1
Last Updated 14 September 2023, 22:33 (CEST)
Created 29 April 2021, 11:23 (CEST)