Body Fat Is a Predictor of Physical Fitness in Obese Adolescent Handball Athletes

Souhail Hermassi, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi and Lina Majed
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Souhail Hermassi: Sport Science Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
Nicola Luigi Bragazzi: Postgraduate School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), 16132 Genoa, Italy
Lina Majed: Sport Science Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: We examined the relationships between body fat (BF) and field measures of physical fitness in adolescent handball players. Twenty nine players (age: 16.6 ± 1.72 years; body mass: 79.8 ± 17.0 kg; height: 1.70 ± 0.12 m; body fat: 27.7 ± 8.67%) from Qatar handball first league performed a series of anthropometric and fitness tests related to their performance in sprinting (i.e., 15 m and 30 m sprint), jumping (i.e., countermovement and squat jumps), throwing (i.e., 3 kg medicine ball seated front throw) and running (i.e., agility T-Half and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 tests). Significant differences between obese and non-obese groups, classified based on age-stratified %BF norms, were found, with the largest difference being attributed to aerobic performance on the Yo-Yo test. Results indicated no significant relationships between anthropometric variables and sprinting or jumping abilities. %BF predicted a significant 8–15% portion in running performances of agility and aerobic capacity, while the latter were mainly explained by body height and mass. %BF was the only and strongest predictor of throwing performance, being an important determinant of performance in handball. Optimizing %BF should be considered as a training and nutrition goal in order to improve sport performance.

Keywords: physical performance; handball; anthropometrics; body fat; body mass index; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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