Body Composition and Segmental Bioimpedance Phase Angle in Elite

Volleyball Players

Olivia Di Vincenzo

, Maurizio Marra

, Rosa Sammarco

, Enza Speranza

and Luca Scalfi

Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University of Naples,

Via S. Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

Department of Public Health, Federico II University of Naples, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

Keywords: Anthropometry, Body Composition, Bioimpedance, Muscular Strength, Athletes.

Abstract: Because of the great interest in the evaluation of body composition (BC) in athletes, this study aimed to

estimate BC variables like fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) of volleyball players compared to a group

of healthy subjects. 12 female volleyball players (VP, age 23.8 ± 3.6 years; weight 63.0 ± 5.1 kg; stature

170 ± 4 cm; BMI 21.9 ± 1.3 kg/m

) and 22 healthy females as control group (CG, age 23.6 ± 2.0 years;

weight 60.7 ± 4.8 kg; stature 167 ± 5 cm; BMI 21.9 ± 1.3 kg/m

), participated to the study. BC was

evaluated by skinfold thickness and whole-body and segmental bioimpedance analysis (BIA) measurements

were assessed. BC resulted significantly different in VP than CG (FM (kg) = 15.7 ± 2.7 vs. 18.0 ± 3.0,

p=0.036; FM (%) = 24.8 ± 3.0 vs. 29.5 ± 3.8, p=0.001; FFM (kg) = 47.4 ± 3.5 vs. 42.8 ± 3.6, p=0.001).

These data confirm previous observations on FM % in VP. Moreover, assessing segmental BIA-derived

phase se angle (PhA) appears to be sensible in these evaluations.

1 INTRODUCTION

Body composition (BC) assessment plays an

important role in monitoring athletes’ nutritional

status and the effects of training (Brocherie, 2014).

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and skinfold

thickness measurement are field methods for

assessing BC that are portable and easy to use. Raw

BIA variables are widely used to evaluate cellular

function and hydration status. Resistance (R) is the

pure opposition of tissues to the flow of the electric

current, while reactance (Xc) is related to the

capacitance of cell membranes, tissue interfaces, etc.

Phase angle (PhA) is the shift between current and

voltage (Norman, 2012), is widely used in clinical

practice to monitor nutritional status, the

effectiveness of nutritional intervention and to

predict mortality (Santarpia, 2009; Norman, 2015;

Lukaski 2017; Mundstock 2018). There is increasing

interest in the use of PhA in athletes as an index of

muscle quality, especially with respect to body water

distribution, but data are not yet consistent when

different sport specialities are compared to each

other, and its association with sport performance is

still uncertain. In healthy subjects, the PhA ranges

from 5 to 7 degrees (Barbosa-Silva, 2005), whereas

in trained athletes it may reach 8.5 degrees (Marra,

2009). Several studies (Carrasco-Marginet, 2017;

Mascherini, 2015) described that PhA increases after

an athletic season, whereas a study by Marra (Marra,

2014) has shown in a team of elite endurance

cyclists, during a three-week stage race, a significant

and progressive reduction of PhA, especially for

lower-limbs, probably due to a loss of intracellular

water (ICW) because of continuous vigorous

exercise during a long-lasting competition.

Several studies have evaluated the BC of

volleyball players (VP) in comparison with other

athletes practicing different sport games (Mala,

2015; Valente-Dos Santos, 2018; Fields, 2018;

Fields, 2018;) or among groups of VP (Mala, 2010;

Maly, 2011) but none of them compared BC of VP

to a control group with similar anthropometric

characteristics.

The aim of this study was to evaluate BC and

BIA-derived PhA (for the whole-body or limbs) in

12 elite female VP compared to a group of 22

healthy-controls.

2 METHODS

Twelve elite female volleyball players (VP, age

23.8±3.6 years; weight 63.0±5.1 kg; stature 170±4

Di Vincenzo, O., Marra, M., Sammarco, R., Speranza, E. and Scalﬁ, L.

Body Composition and Segmental Bioimpedance Phase Angle in Elite Volleyball Players.

DOI: 10.5220/0007945701130116

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2019), pages 113-116

ISBN: 978-989-758-383-4

113

cm; BMI 21.9±1.3 kg/m

) and 22 control young-

women with similar characteristics (control non-

athletic=C-NA, age 23.6±2.0 years; weight 60.7±4.8

kg; stature 167±5 cm; BMI 21.9±1.3 kg/m

)

participated in the study. Data were collected during

the regular season of the 2015/2016 Italian Women's

Volleyball Serie B League. Athletes trained to

Monday to Saturday four hours/day. Control women

did not follow regular exercise regimes.

Participants were studied in the morning (9.00

a.m.) by the same operator, following standard

procedures, at the BC and energy expenditure

laboratory, Clinical Nutrition Unit, Department of

Clinical Medicine and Surgery. “Federico II”

University Hospital of Naples. Weight was

measured to the nearest 0.1 kg using a platform

beam scale and stature to the nearest 0.5 cm using a

stadiometer (Seca 709; Seca, Hamburg, Germany).

BMI was then calculated as weight (kg)/stature²

(m²).

BC was estimated by skinfold thickness (biceps,

triceps, subscapular and suprailiac sites), measured

on the left side of the body, in triplicate to the

nearest 0.2 mm, using an appropriately calibrated

Harpenden calibre by the same operator (MM).

Body density was estimated from the sum of these

four subcutaneous skinfolds values by Durnin and

Womersley equation (Brozek, 1963; Durnin, 1974).

Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) was performed at 50

kHz on the non-dominant side of the body (Human

Im Plus II, DS Medica S.r.l., Milan, Italy) to collect

data on R and PhA.

Fat-Free Mass (FFM) and Fat Mass (FM) was

determined using the Siri Equation (Siri, 1961).

Statistical Analysis

Results are expressed as mean±standard deviation.

The independent samples t-test was used to assess

the association between variables (SPSS. 19.0 vers.,

Chicago, USA). Statistical significance was pre-

determined as p<0.05.

3 RESULTS

Anthropometric characteristics of the participants

are described in Table 1. Age, weight, stature and

BMI were similar between the two groups. FM both

in absolute and percentage values resulted

significantly lower and FFM resulted higher in VP

than in control group.

BIA-derived PhA values resulted significantly

higher in VP, both for the whole body (p=0.001) and

limbs, and especially for lower limbs (p<0.001)

(Table 1).

Table 1: Anthropometric characteristics, body composition

and phase angle of volleyball players and controls.

Volleyball

Players

(n = 12)

Control

Group

(n = 22)

Age

yrs

23.8

±3.6

23.6

± 2.0

Weight

63.0

±5.1

60.7

± 4.8

Stature

170

±4

167

± 5

BMI

(kg/m²)

21.9

±1.3

21.9

±1.3

Fat mass

15.7

±2.7

18.0

±3.0

=0.036

Fat mass

24.8

±3.0

29.5

±3.8

<0.001

Fat-free mass

47.4

±3.5

42.8

±3.6

<0.001

Phase angle degrees

Whole-body

6.8

±0.43

6.0

±0.66

<0.001

Upper-limb

5.1

±0.53

4.7

±0.72

=0.080

Lower limb

8.6

±0.86

6.3

±0.98

<0.001

SD= standard deviation;

BMI= Body Mass Index

NS=not significant;

4 DISCUSSION

Several studies agree that appropriate BC is of

crucial importance for volleyball performance

because of the characteristics of this sport speciality.

Usually, high ratios of FFM to FM and low FM%

are auspicious for training and competitive athletes.

In the present study, BC of VP has been compared to

that of a group of healthy control subjects, matched

for anthropometric characteristics (weight, stature,

BMI). Our results underline that VP presented

different BC than a healthy non-athletic population.

Specifically, VP showed a lower FM both in

absolute values and in percentage as well as a higher

FFM than C-NA females. Additionally, this study

compared PhA of VP group (whole-body and limbs)

to that of the C-NA group clearly showing that both

whole-body and lower-limb values were

significantly higher in VP.

In conclusion, this study confirms previous

observations on lower FM in VP. Moreover,

highlights that BIA (especially with regard to

segmental assessment) appears to be helpful in

qualitative evaluations of muscle mass and possibly

in assessing changes due to training.

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