Physiological profile of professional handball players regarding playing position

Abstract

In the handball game players occupied specific position which requires unique physiological and physical attributes relating to technical and tactical requirements of each position in order to maximize sport performance on the court. The aim of this study was to quantify anthropometrical and physiological characteristics in elite Macedonian handball players and compare them regarding four different playing positions. In this study were included55handball players, different nationality, from RNM, participated in ergometry testing with Bruce protocol and body mass analysis with bioelectrical impedance analyzer, InBody 720. The players were divided in four groups according to playing position: wings (W), backs (B), pivots (P) and goalkeepers (G). Anthropometric parameters for all players were following: mean height was 186.3±7.1 cm, weight =85.37±13.7 kg, skeletal muscle mass (SMM) = 42.04 ± 6.2 kg; BMI = 24.54±2.8; BF%=13.4 ± 4.75 and WHR = 0.85± 0.06. Regarding the position, B/W/P/G for height were: 187.14 cm /180.0 cm/191.77 cm/186.8 cm; weight: 85.72 kg/72.67 kg/ 99.67 kg/85.33 kg; body fat percent: 12.26 %/11.92 %/16.3 %/14.7 %. The mean values for maximal oxygen consumption for B/W/P/G were 48.86/44.31/44.09/47.78 ml/kg/min. The BIA parameters of body composition in handball players regarding the playing position, showed statistically significant differences for all lean body mass parameters and obesity diagnose parameters, except for the body fat percent. According the cardio-physiological parameters derived from Bruce protocol handball players at different playing position had similar aerobic capacity.