Body composition, training volume/pattern and injury status of Slovenian adolescent female high-performance gymnasts

Jakše, Boštjan (author), Jakše, Barbara (author), Čuk, Ivan (author), Šajber, Dorica (author)

Body composition (BC), training volume/pattern, and injury status are a few important factors affecting training quality and sport performance in female artistic gymnastics. We aimed to examine BC status, training volume/pattern, and injury status during the first competition period. Our cross-sectional study included 17 female gymnasts (age: 17.4 ± 4.1 years, body height: 159.8 ± 6.2 cm, and body weight: 54.8 ± 5.3 kg) who were high performance at the international and national level. The BC (measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) parameters included body height and mass, body fat percentage (BF %), lean body mass (LBM), body mass index (BMI), total bone mineral density (BMD total), and total bone mineral content (BMC total). Training volume and pattern were assessed via an author-developed questionnaire, while injury status (i.e., anatomical location, symmetry and rate of injuries) was assessed via a modified questionnaire on overuse injuries used in sports injury epidemiology studies with elite-level athletes. Body composition parameters were as follows: the BMI was 21.5 ± 1.4 kg/m$^2$, BF % was 21.9 ± 4.7%, LBM was 41.2 ± 3.4 kg, BMD total was 1.22 ± 0.08 g/cm$^2$, and BMC total was 2486 ± 344 g. Furthermore, the average weekly volume of training was 23.5 ± 1.4 h, with the highest training volume occurring on Monday and Tuesday and high variability within gymnasts. Our study also revealed that the most frequently injured joints that had the most negative impact on training volume, sport performance and pain status were the ankles and low back, followed by the knees and shoulders. This kind of yearly screening method is warranted to allow more definitive conclusions to be made on adjusted training and preventive strategies.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sport, gymnasts, artistic gymnastics, high performance, elite-level, female, body composition, training volume, injuries
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty; FŠ - Faculty of Sport
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 12 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 18, iss. 4, art. 2019
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135027
• UDC: 796.41
• ISSN on article: 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18042019
• COBISS.SI-ID: 52474627
• Publication date in RUL: 17.02.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of environmental research and public health
• Shortened title: Int. j. environ. res. public health
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1660-4601
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1818965

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 19.02.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: šport, gimnastičarke, gimnastika, vrhunski šport, ženske, telesna sestava, morfologija, trening, poškodbe

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P5-0147
• Name: Kineziologija monostrukturnih, polistrukturnih in konvencionalnih športov