Anthropometric and Kinanthropometric Distinctive Profile of a Sedentary Population Compared with an Amateur Athlete Population

Abstract

Anthropometry and kinanthropometry are sciences that measure variations in the physical dimensions and composition of the human body. There are studies that analyze these parameters individually, but we believe that it is much better to analyze them globally. We realized a multivariate analysis, to determine which variables could explain the profiles of the subjects depending on sex, lifestyle, and type of sports modality. We analyzed 25 variables in a population of 574 people aged between 18 and 42 years. A multivariate statistical analysis was performed using exploratory factor analysis, and then we obtained five differentiating variables: fat mass, muscle mass, bone mass, skinfolds, and robustness. We classified the population into sedentary lifestyle, amateur athletes with predominance of the upper and lower train, and amateur athletes with predominance mainly of the lower train, in an attempt to analyze the existence of statistical significance between them. Amateur athletes with a predominance of the upper and lower train have a higher Body Mass Index and a lower Relative Index of the Lower Limbs, in addition to greater muscle mass and robustness than those athletes with a predominance mainly of the lower train. The sedentary control group presented higher values in terms of skinfolds and fat mass. This work could help people to choose the best sport according to their morphotype, and also could be used to plan sports training to potentiate different body regions, injury recovery, selection of talented athletes, etc.