Body composition of Brazilian beach volleyball players

Abstract

The development of a beach volleyball athlete is the result of highly planned training process, and should consider the specificity of this sport and the demands regarding body composition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the values and distribution of fat mass among Brazilian beach volleyball players. The sample consisted of 16 male beach volleyball players from the Brazilian Circuit 2009. For the evaluation of body composition, the recommendations of FILHO, 2003, were applied: every measure was taken on the right side of the body, before the morning practice session; the reading took three seconds, to diminish reading errors; each measure was taken three times by the same researcher. Jackson and Pollock's seven-skinfolds model was utilised, since there are no protocols specific for volleyball. Subjects' mean age was 28 years, height 1.94 m, and they had played beach volleyball for approximately 8 years. The greatest average value of skin fat was found for the abdominal skinfold (12.5 mm), followed by the suprailiac (11.4 mm) and thigh (10.8 mm). The minimum percentage body fat found was 4.6%, with the maximum being 16.0%, and the average 8.7%, below the mean theoretical ideal percentage of 15%. Characterisation of the players' anthropometric profile helps in monitoring the training process, suggesting possible deficiencies and allowing specific intervention. It may also assist in selecting players with the adequate profile for the sport. In spite of a descriptive design having being applied in the study, the results provided some insights for training and competition. A more extensive data collection from beach volleyball players of different countries and levels of competitions will provide a database for characterisation of the beach volleyball player, allowing the setting of specific benchmarks for training.