Somatotype analysis of elite judo athletes compared with nonathletes for health science research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to show the somatotype and physical characteristic differences between elite judo athletes and nonathletes. The differences between the weight categories for athletes were also examined. In this study, we observed forty elite judo athletes and forty non-athletes. The participants were measured with the modified somatotype method of Heath-Carter, resulting in three kinds of somatotypes, and a balanced type. The nonathletes consisted of nine endomorphic, thirteen mesomorphic, ten ectomorphic, and eight central types. The judo athletes consisted of only mesomorphic types. Subdividing the judo athletes’ somatotypes resulted in twenty endomorphic mesomorphs, twelve balanced mesomorphs, five ectomorphic mesomorphs, and two mesomorph (one ectomorph and one mesomorph) endomorph types, respectively. Judo athletes had higher weights, body mass indexes, and mesomorphic component values than the nonathletes did. However, the athletes’ endomorphic and ectomorphic components were lower than in the nonathletes. Furthermore, judo athletes also tended to fall into a higher weight category, the higher the value of the endomorphic component and the lower the value of the ectomorphic component were. In addition, the −60-−90 kg weight categories were shown to have similar characteristics in terms of somatotype components. However, the −100-+100 kg weight categories were shown to vary more in terms of a higher value for the endomorphic component and a lower value for the ectomorphic component than the lower categories did. The data from this study provides in part physical characteristics of elite judo athletes that can be used to establish a reference for systemic study of sports health sciences.