Somatic and Body Composition Factors Underlying Aerobic Capacity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of somatic and body composition variables on aerobic capacity among the male college students. Five hundred (250 trained and 250 untrained) young college levels male students (mean age 20.54 years) participated in this study. In order to evaluate the somatotype components (endomorphy, mesomorphy, ectomorphy) and body composition variables (body mass index, % body fat, lean body mass, % skeletal muscle mass, % skeletal mass and body surface area) researcher applied a testing procedure that included measurements of height (cm), body weight (kg), five muscle girths (upper arm, fore arm, chest, thigh and calf) in cm, four bone diameters (humerus, bistyloid, femur and bimalleolus) in cm, and eight skinfolds thickness (triceps, sub-scapular, suprailiac, pectoral, axilla, abdominal, thigh and calf) in mm. Estimation of aerobic capacity through O2max. Queen College Step Test was administered. A negative correlation was found between the body fat percentage and O2max. Also a negative correlation was found to O2max.with body surface area and endomorphy of both trained and untrained groups. The lean body mass, % skeletal muscle mass and mesomorphy components of somatotype have the greatest positive correlations with O2max.