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| April 2001, Volume 55, Number 4, Pages 268-277 |
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| Original Communication |
| Body composition changes in female bodybuilders during preparation for competition |
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| G E van der Ploeg1, A G Brooks1, R T Withers1, J Dollman2, F Leaney3 and B E Chatterton4 |
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1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, School of Education, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
2School of Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Studies, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, South Australia, Australia
3CSIRO (Australia), Land and Water, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia
4Department of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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Correspondence to: R T Withers, Exercise Physiology Laboratory, School of Education, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia. E-mail: bob.withers@flinders.edu.au
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Guarantor: GE van der Ploeg Contributors: GEP and AGB recruited the subjects, collected and analysed the data and helped to write the paper; RTW conceived the study, secured the research funding, supervised the project and wrote the paper; JD conducted all the anthropometric measurements; BEC supervised the DEXA scans; FL supervised the deuterium assays. |
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| Abstract |
| Objective: To determine anthropometric and body composition changes in female bodybuilders during preparation for competition. Design: There was an attempt to match subjects in the control and experimental groups for height and percentage body fat (%BF) for the initial test of this longitudinal study. Subjects: Five competitive bodybuilders (-X±s.d.: 35.3±5.7 y; 167.3±3.7 cm; 66.38±6.30 kg; 18.3±3.5 %BF) and five athletic females (-X±s.d.: 30.9±13.0 y; 166.9±3.9 cm; 55.94±3.59 kg; 19.1±3.3 %BF) were recruited from advertisements in a bodybuilding newsletter and placed on sports centre noticeboards. Interventions: The following measurements were conducted 12 weeks, 6 weeks and 3-5 d before the bodybuilders' competitions: anthropometric profile, body density by underwater weighing, total body water via deuterium dilution and bone mineral mass from a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. A combination of the last three measurements enabled the %BF to the determined by a four compartment model. Results: A significant (P£0.001) 5.80 kg body mass loss by the bodybuilders as they prepared for competition was primarily due to a reduction in fat mass (FM; -4.42 kg; 76.2%) as opposed to fat-free mass (FFM; -1.38 kg; 23.8%). The decreases in body mass and FM over the final 6 weeks were greater than those over the first 6 weeks. Their %BF decreased (P<0.001) from 18.3 to 12.7, whereas the values for the control group remained essentially unchanged at 19.1-19.6 %BF. These body composition changes by the bodybuilders were accompanied by a significant decline (P<0.001) of 25.5 mm (76.3-50.8 mm) in the sum of eight skinfold thicknesses (triceps+subscapular+biceps+iliac crest+supraspinale+abdominal+front thigh+medial calf). Conclusions: Although the bodybuilders presented with low %BFs at the start of the experiment, they still significantly decreased their body mass during the 12 week preparation for competition and most of this loss was due to a reduction in FM as opposed to FFM. Sponsorship: Australian Research Council (small grants scheme). European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 268-277 |
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| Keywords |
| four-compartment body composition model; dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; somatotype |
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| Received 16 June 2000; revised 8 November 2000; accepted 16 November 2000 |
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| April 2001, Volume 55, Number 4, Pages 268-277 |
| Table of contents Previous Abstract Next Article PDF |
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