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Body Fat Is a Predictor of Physical Fitness in Obese Adolescent Handball Athletes

Author

Listed:
  • Souhail Hermassi

    (Sport Science Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Nicola Luigi Bragazzi

    (Postgraduate School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), 16132 Genoa, Italy
    Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Lina Majed

    (Sport Science Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

We examined the relationships between body fat (BF) and field measures of physical fitness in adolescent handball players. Twenty nine players (age: 16.6 ± 1.72 years; body mass: 79.8 ± 17.0 kg; height: 1.70 ± 0.12 m; body fat: 27.7 ± 8.67%) from Qatar handball first league performed a series of anthropometric and fitness tests related to their performance in sprinting (i.e., 15 m and 30 m sprint), jumping (i.e., countermovement and squat jumps), throwing (i.e., 3 kg medicine ball seated front throw) and running (i.e., agility T-Half and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 tests). Significant differences between obese and non-obese groups, classified based on age-stratified %BF norms, were found, with the largest difference being attributed to aerobic performance on the Yo-Yo test. Results indicated no significant relationships between anthropometric variables and sprinting or jumping abilities. %BF predicted a significant 8–15% portion in running performances of agility and aerobic capacity, while the latter were mainly explained by body height and mass. %BF was the only and strongest predictor of throwing performance, being an important determinant of performance in handball. Optimizing %BF should be considered as a training and nutrition goal in order to improve sport performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Souhail Hermassi & Nicola Luigi Bragazzi & Lina Majed, 2020. "Body Fat Is a Predictor of Physical Fitness in Obese Adolescent Handball Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8428-:d:444950
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    Cited by:

    1. Souhail Hermassi & Thomas Bartels & Lawrence D. Hayes & René Schwesig, 2022. "Fitness, Fatness, and Academic Attainment in Male Schoolchildren from a Soccer Academy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-14, March.

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