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Int J Sports Med 2021; 42(13): 1191-1198
DOI: 10.1055/a-1403-2906
Training & Testing

Body Mass and Body Composition Changes over 7 Years in a Male Professional Rugby Union Team

Clíodhna McHugh
1   Department of Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland
,
Karen Hind
2   Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Aoife O'Halloran
3   Discipline of Statistics and Information Systems at the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
,
Daniel Davey
4   Leinster Rugby, Newstead Building A, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
,
Gareth Farrell
4   Leinster Rugby, Newstead Building A, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
,
Fiona Wilson
1   Department of Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland
› Author Affiliations Funding: Financial support was provided to the primary author for the completion of this research in the form of funds provided by the University as part of the PhD Candidature. These funds were used for the undertaking of this study, with no finances directly received by the primary author or any other author.
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal body mass and body composition changes in one professional rugby union team (n=123), (i) according to position [forwards (n=58) versus backs (n=65)], analysis of players with 6 consecutive seasons of DXA scans (n=21) and, (iii) to examine differences by playing status [academy and international], over 7 years. Players [mean age: 26.8 y, body mass index: 28.9+kg.m2] received DXA scans at fourtime points within each year. A modest (but non-significant) increase in mean total mass (0.8 kg) for professional players was reflected by increased lean mass and reduced body fat mass. At all-time points, forwards had a significantly greater total mass, lean mass and body fat percentage compared to backs (p<0.05). Academy players demonstrated increased total and lean mass and decreased body fat percentage over the first 3 years of senior rugby, although this was not significant. Senior and academy international players had greater lean mass and lower body fat percentage (p<0.05) than non-international counterparts. Despite modest increases in total mass; reflected by increased lean mass and reduced fat mass, no significant changes in body mass or body composition, irrespective of playing position were apparent over 7 years.

Key words

body composition - dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry - athletes - longitudinal analysis


Publication History

Received: 21 October 2020

Accepted: 22 February 2021

Article published online:
30 April 2021

© 2021. Thieme. All rights reserved.

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