Anthropometrical Profile of Judo Athletes: Comparative Analysis Between Weight Categories

Abstract

This study compared the anthropometrical characteristics in judo athletes of different weight categories. The sample was composed by 104 Brazilian male judo athletes of national/international level from all seven official weight categories: extralightweight (-60 kg; n = 16), half-lightweight (-66 kg; n = 12), lightweight (-73 kg; n = 24), half-middleweight (-81 kg; n = 25), middleweight (-90 kg; n = 15), half-heavyweight (-100 kg; n = 7) and heavyweight (+100 kg; n = 5). The following anthropometric measurements were carried out: body mass, height, skinfold thickness (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, abdominal, front thigh, and medial calf), circumferences (chest, relaxed arm, flexed arm, forearm, wrist, proximal thigh, medial calf and ankle) and breadth (humerus and femur epicondyles, biacromial, chest, chest depth, and biliocristal). The somatotypes for seven weight categories were calculated with three-dimensional approach. An one-way analysis of variance and Tukey test were used to compare groups concerning normally distributed data, while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for non-normally distributed data (P < 0.05). The main results of the present study were: (1) height differed across non subsequent weight categories, except for the difference between -60 kg and -66 kg; (2) for all the skinfold thickness the four lightest categories did not differ among them, and the +100kg group presented higher values compared to all other weight categories; (3) for most of the circumferences the -60 kg and -66 kg groups presented lower values compared to the three heaviest weight categories (-90 kg, -100 kg and +100 kg); (4) somatotype categories were similar in the three lightest groups (-60 kg, - 66 kg, -73kg), while the heaviest category differed from all other groups; (5) most of the differences among groups appeared in the bone breadth measurements. Thus, the main differences between weight categories are the bone breadths and circumferences, whilst height and skinfold thickness are variables that differ mainly between heavier and lighter categories.