Table 1.
Athlete characteristics
| Sport | Basketball (n=14) | Football (n=28) | Boxing (n=15) | Wrestling (n=28) | Total (n=85) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | X ± SD range | X ± SD range | X ± SD range | X ± SD range | X ± SD range |
| Age (years) | 25.4 ± 4.2 | 23.9 ± 4.2 | 23.687 ± 4.2 | 21.4 ± 6.4 | 23.7 ± 4.3 |
| 17.2 – 31 | 17.5 – 33 | 17.4 – 32.2 | 17.5 – 32.9 | 17.2 – 33 | |
| Height (cm) | 198.3 ± 10.8 | 181.9 ± 5.1 | 186.4 ± 7.2 | 176.7 ± 7.7 | 183.7 ± 10.4 |
| 171.2 – 211 | 169.0 – 190.5 | 175 – 198 | 155.0 – 191.5 | 155 – 211 | |
| Weight (kg) | 96.1 ± 19.2 | 77.2 ± 5.6 | 87.7 ± 17.5 | 80.6 ± 11.7 | 83.3 ± 14.4 |
| 43.7 – 120.6 | 67.3 – 86.5 | 59.8 – 123.4 | 59.5 – 105.2 | 43.7 – 123.4 | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.1 ± 3 | 23.3 ± 1.1 | 25.1 ± 3.4 | 25.7 ± 2.5 | 24.6 ± 2.6 |
| 14.9 – 27.3 | 21.2 – 25.3 | 19.3 – 32.3 | 22.4 – 31.2 | 14.9 – 32.3 | |
| FFMI (kg/m2) | 21.7 ± 2.5 | 21.2 ± 0.9 | 21.9 ± 2.2 | 22.4 ± 1.7 | 21.8 ± 1.8 |
| 14 – 25.4 | 19.7 – 22.9 | 17.6 – 26.4 | 20.1 – 26.1 | 14 – 26.4 | |
| BIA-BF (%) | 10 ± 3.2 | 8.8 ± 2.1 | 12.2 ± 3.6 | 12.6 ± 2.8 | 10.8 ± 3.3 |
| 5.5 – 15.4 | 169.0 – 190.5 | 7 – 19.2 | 7.4 – 18.4 | 4.9 – 19.2 |
Table 2.
Selected anthropometric methods and equations developed for assessing body fat in different male athlete populations.
| Author(s)/method | Anthropometric equation |
|---|---|
| Yuhasz (25) | Equation using 6 skinfolds. %BF = 3.64 + (0.097 (Ch + Tr + Sb + Si + Ab + Th)) |
| Faulkner (26) | Equation using 4 skinfolds, today considered a modified Yuhasz method (27). %BF = 5.783 + (0.153 (Tr + Sb + Si + Ab)) |
| Forsyth & Sinning 1 (11) | Equation using 2 skinfolds (equation no. 2a). BD = 1.103 − (0.00168 x Sb) − (0.00127 x Ab) |
| Forsyth & Sinning 2 (11) | Equation using 4 skinfolds (equation no. 2b). BD = 1.10647 − (0.00162 x Sb) − (0.00144 x Ab) − (0.00077 x Tr) + (0.00071 x Ma) |
| Forsyth & Sinning 3 (11) | Equation using 2 skinfolds and height (equation no. 3a). BD = 1.02415 − (0.00169 x Sb) + (0.00444 x Ht) − (0.00130 x Ab) |
| Forsyth & Sinning 4 (11) | Equation using 4 skinfolds and height (equation no. 3b). BD = 1.03316 − (0.00164 x Sb) + (0.00410 x Ht) − (0.00144 x Ab) − (0.00069 x Tr) + (0.00062 x Ma) |
| White et al. (12) | Equation using 2 skinfolds. BD = 1.0958 − (0.00088 x Si) − (0.0006 x Th) |
| Thorland et al. 1 (19) | Equation using 7 skinfolds. BD = 1.1091 − (0.00052 (Tr + Sb + Ma + Si + Ab + Th + Ca)) + (0.00000032 (Tr + Sb + Ma + Si + Ab + Th + Ca)2) |
| Thorland et al. 2 (19) | Equation using 3 skinfolds. BD = 1.1136 − (0.00154 (Tr + Sb + Ma)) + (0.00000516 (Tr + Sb + Ma)2) |
| Withers et al. (28) | Equation using 7 skinfolds, not fully published in the original 1987 paper by Withers et al. (28), but can be found in Reilly et al. study (13) derived from Withers et al. data. BD = 1.0988 − (0.0004 (Tr + Sb + Bc + Sp + Ab + Th + Ca)) |
| Evans et al. 1 (18) | Equation using 7 skinfolds, gender and race. %BF = 10.566 + (0.12077 (Sb + Tr + Ch + Ma + Si + Ab + Th)) − (8.057 x gender) − (2.545 x race) |
| Evans et al. 2 (18) | Equation using 3 skinfolds, gender and race. %BF = 8.997 + (0.24658 (Ab + Th + Tr)) − (6.343 x gender) − (1.998 x race) |
| Oliver et al. (14) | Equation using 7 skinfolds (equation model number 3). %BF = 3.53 + (0.132 (Ch + Tr + Sb + Ma + Si + Ab + Th)) |
| Reilly et al. (13) | Equation using 4 skinfolds. %BF = 5.174 + (0.124 x Th) + (0.147 x Ab) + (0.196 x Tr) + (0.13 x Ca) |
| Civar et al. (16) | Equation using 3 skinfolds and weight. BF% = (0.432 x Tr) + (0.193 x Ab) + (0.364 x Bc) + (0.077 x Wt) − 0.891 |
| Stewart & Hannan (17) | Equation using 2 skinfolds and weight. This equation estimates body fat in grams, which are then converted into body fat percentage for BIA comparison. BFM = (331.5 x Ab) + (356.2 x Th) + (111.9 x Wt) − 9108 |
[i] Ht - height; Wt - weight; BD - body density; BF% - body fat percentage; BFM - body fat mass in grams; Tr - triceps skinfold; Ma - midaxilar skinfold; Sb - subscapular skinfold; Ab - abdominal skinfold; Si - suprailiac skinfold; Sp - supraspinale skinfold; Th - quadriceps skinfold; Ca - calf skinfold (medial calf); Ch - chest skinfold; Bc - biceps skinfold; gender - men = 1; race - African American = 1, Caucasian = 0.
Table 3.
Correlation of different anthropometric methods and BIA method in assessing body fat percentage of professional male athletes.
| Method | N | rs | BCa CI 95% lower - upper | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuhasz (25) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.769 *** | 0.649 – 0.840 |
| Faulkner (26) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.792*** | 0.712 – 0.849 |
| Forsyth & Sinning 1 (11) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.743 *** | 0.619 – 0.823 |
| Forsyth & Sinning 2 (11) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.738 *** | 0.627 – 0.019 |
| Forsyth & Sinning 3 (11) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.676 *** | 0.536 – 0.775 |
| Forsyth & Sinning 4 (11) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.685 *** | 0.545 – 0.786 |
| White et al. (12) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.761 *** | 0.665 – 0.837 |
| Thorland et al. 1 (19) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.760 *** | 0.650 – 0.848 |
| Thorland et al. 2 (19) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.736 *** | 0.613 – 0.830 |
| Whiters et al. (13) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.674 *** | 0.502 – 0.796 |
| Evans et al. 1 (18) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.761 *** | 0.642 – 0.845 |
| Evans et al. 2 (18) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.674 *** | 0.518 – 0.791 |
| Oliver et al. (14) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.761 *** | 0.614 – 0.843 |
| Reilly et al. (13) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.681 *** | 0.535 – 0.793 |
| Civar et al. (16) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.740 *** | 0.625 – 0.819 |
| Stewart & Hannan (17) | vs BIA | 85 | 0.681 *** | 0.543 – 0.787 |