Anthropometric and Body Composition Changes During Pre-Season of Spanish Professional Female Soccer Players According to Playing Position

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2024 Aug 29

PMID 39203934

Authors

Marta Ramirez-Munera

Raul Arcusa

Francisco Javier Lopez-Roman

Desiree Victoria-Montesinos

Ana Maria Garcia-Munoz

Vicente Avila-Gandia

Silvia Perez-Pinero

Javier Marhuenda

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: In professional soccer, body composition analysis is crucial to assess preparation and optimize performance. Different playing positions have different physical demands, which can lead to variations in body composition. However, there are few studies on women's soccer that consider the playing position. This study aims to fill that gap by examining position-specific differences in anthropometric and body composition characteristics among Spanish professional female soccer players at the beginning and end of pre-season. Furthermore, it investigates the possible changes during the pre-season period between positions and correlates the data obtained from anthropometric equations with bioimpedance (BIA) measurements.

Methods: Thirty-four female soccer players: 8 midfielders, 12 defenders, 11 forwards, and 3 goalkeepers (age: 23.06 ± 4.29 years, height: 164.15 ± 5.84 cm, weight: 58.39 ± 6.62 kg, and ∑6 skinfolds: 74.57 ± 18.48 mm) completed the study that lasted 4 weeks (pre-season) where they were measured anthropometrically and by bioimpedance twice.

Results: Goalkeepers showed greater wingspan (176.60 ± 7.06 < 0.05) compared to other positions. Regarding differences during pre-season, midfielders had the greatest decrease in ∑6 skinfolds compared to other positions (∆ -12.10 ± 5.69 < 0.05). There was a correlation of % fat between Faulkner's equation and BIA (Pearson's = 0.817).

Conclusions: It seems that there are no significant differences in terms of positions and body composition, except for the wingspan and ankle diameter. During pre-season, midfielders are the ones who improve their body composition the greatest. The anthropometric equation for body fat that shows the highest correlation with BIA is Faulkner's equation, followed by Durnin's equation.

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