The Relationship among Somatotype Structures, Body Compositions and Estimated Oxygen Capacities of Elite Male Handball Players

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the relationship among somatotype structures, body compositions and estimated oxygen capacities of elite male handball players in Ahi Evran University Handball Team in 2017-2018 Turkish Men's Handball First Division. It was conducted on elite male handball players (n=15) aged between 18 and 30 who voluntarily participated in the study. Their arithmetic means and standard deviations are 22.06±3.80 years of age, 186.00±7.62 cm height, 88.66±10.69 kg weight, and BMI 25.65±3.08 kg/m2, aerobic power (VO2 max.) 41.39±3.86 (ml/kg/min), and 13.10%±1.70% body fat. They had endomorph and mesomorph (4.43-3.96-2.14) in terms of somatotype properties. A highly negative significant correlation was found between VO2 max and body fat % (r=-.702, p<0.01), between VO2 max and endomorph value (r=-.702, p<0.01), and between VO2 max and mesomorph value (r=-.703, p<0.01), while a highly positive significant correlation was found between VO2 max and ectomorph value (r= .609, p<0.05). In conclusion, it can be stated that differences in body fat data may result from players' somatotypes categories, intensity of training, duration of training, measurements by different researchers, measurements in different periods of the season, and use of different formulas in the calculation of measurement values.