The Relationship Between Morphological Characteristics and Functional Abilities in Physically Active Students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between morphological characteristics and maximal oxygen consumption in physically active students. The sample included 90 male (20,91±2,11 years) and 20 female (20,51±1,57 years) students from the University of Belgrade. Body composition was measured using InBody720, with 9 variables used to define the morphological status and a Shuttle run test used to measure maximal oxygen uptake. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 21.0, while multiple regression analysis (MRA) was used for defining multivariate models between the criterion variable (VO2max) and a set of predictive morphological variables. The males showed higher VO2max compared to females (48,33 vs. 38,54 mlO2/kg/min, p<0,05). Small significant correlation was found between body mass parameters and VO2max (r ~ 0,3, p < 0,01) in the male sample, while in the female sample body height showed medium correlation with VO2max. In both samples, body fat parameters showed significant correlation with VO2max in range from r = 0,261 to 0,545 (p < 0,05). Furthermore, the percentage of muscle mass also showed correlation with VO2max in both samples, while skeletal muscle mass showed no significant correlation. Predictive regression model was more accurate in females than in males. Our results suggest that the majority of morphological characteristics do not affect the cardiorespiratory system and do not have a large impact on the value of VO2max.