Total and Regional Body Composition of NCAA Division I Collegiate Baseball Athletes

Abstract

This study’s purpose was to evaluate total, regional, and throwing versus non-throwing arm body composition measurements between various positions of NCAA Division I male baseball players using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Two hundred and one collegiate baseball athletes were measured using DXA. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT), total and regional fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured. Athletes were separated into: pitchers (n=92), catchers (n=25), outfielders (n=43), and infielders (n=41). ANOVA and Tukey’s honest significant difference assessed total and regional differences between positions. Infielders had significantly (p<0.05) lower total LM than pitchers and outfielders. Additionally, outfielders had significantly lower total FM compared to pitchers and catchers. No significant differences between positions were observed for total BMD and VAT. Pitchers’ and infielders’ throwing arm demonstrated significantly greater total mass, FM, LM, and BMD compared to the non-throwing arm. Further, outfielders’ throwing arm total mass, LM, and BMD were significantly higher vs. the non-throwing arm. Significant differences were observed in total and regional body composition measurements across position, in addition to differences in throwing arm vs. non-throwing arm composition. These measurement values are important to coaches and trainers as normative positional DXA data for collegiate baseball players.

Key words

dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) - visceral adipose tissue - bone mineral density

• References

• 1 Ackland TR, Lohman TG, Sundgot-Borgen J, Maughan RJ, Meyer NL, Stewart AD, Muller W. Current status of body composition assessment in sport. Sports Med 2012; 42: 227-249
• 2 Bosch TA, Carbuhn A, Stanforth PR, Oliver JM, Keller KA, Dengel DR. Body composition and bone mineral density of Division I collegiate football players, A Consortium of College Athlete Research (C-CAR) study. J Strength Cond Res 2017;
• 3 Malina RM. Body composition in athletes: Assessment and estimated fatness. Clin Sports Med 2007; 26: 37-68
• 4 Bosch TA, Dengel DR, Kelly AS, Sinaiko AR, Moran A, Steinberger J. Visceral adipose tissue measured by DXA correlates with measurement by CT and is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in children. Pediatr Obes 2015; 10: 172-179
• 5 Faria AN, Ribeiro Filho FF, Gouveia Ferreira SR, Zanella MT. Impact of visceral fat on blood pressure and insulin sensitivity in hypertensive obese women. Obes Res J 2002; 10: 1203-1206
• 6 Shen W, Punyanitya M, Chen J, Gallagher D, Albu J, Pi-Sunyer X, Lewis CE, Grunfeld C, Heymsfield SB, Heshka S. Visceral adipose tissue: Relationships between single slice areas at different locations and obesity-related health risks. Int J Obes 2007; 31: 763-769
• 7 Bosch TA, Burruss TP, Weir NL, Fielding KA, Engel BE, Weston TD, Dengel DR. Abdominal body composition difference in NFL football players. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 3313-3319
• 8 Bosch TA, Dengel DR, Ryder JR, Kelly AS, Chow L. Fitness level is associated with sex-specific regional fat differences in normal weight young adults. J Endocrinol Diabetes 2015; 2: 5
• 9 McClanahan BS, Harmon-Clayton K, Ward KD, Klesges RC, Vukadinovich CM, Cantler ED. Side-to-side comparisons of bone mineral density in upper and lower limbs of collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2002; 16: 586-590
• 10 Myers D. Relationship of anthropometric measurements and body composition to upper-body power in baseball players. Mo J Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance 2012; 22: 5-11
• 11 Coleman AE. Skinfold estimates of body fat in major league baseball players. Phys Sportsmed 1981; 9: 77-82
• 12 Coleman AE, Lasky ML. Assessing running speed and body composition in professional baseball players. J Appl Sport. Sci Res 1992; 6: 207-213
• 13 Spaniol FJ. Body composition and baseball performance. NSCA’s Perform Train J 2005; 4: 10-11
• 14 Hoffman JR, Vazquez J, Pichardo N, Tenebaum G. Anthropometric and performance comparisons in professional baseball players. J Strength Cond Res 2009; 23: 2173-2178
• 15 Loenneke JP, Wray ME, Wilson JM, Barnes JT, Kearney ML, Pujol TJ. Accuracy of field methods in assessing body fat in collegiate baseball players. Res Sports Med 2013; 21: 286-291
• 16 Harriss DJ, Macsween A, Atkinson G. Standards for ethics in sport and exercise science research: 2018 update. Int J Sports Med 2017; 38: 1126-1131
• 17 GE Healthcare Lunar. Encore-Based X-ray Bone Densitometer: User Manual [Internet]. Madison (WI).GE Healthcare; [cited 2018 Oct 5]. Available from http://www.gehealthcare.com
• 18 Kaul S, Rothney MP, Peters DM, Wacker WK, Davis CE, Shapiro MD, Ergun DL. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for quantification of visceral fat. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2012; 20: 1313-1318
• 19 Fields JB, Merrigan JJ, White JB, Jones MT. Body composition variables by sport and sport-position in elite collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2018; 32: 3153-3159
• 20 Lohman TG, Harris M, Teixeira PJ, Weiss L. Assessing body composition and changes in body composition. Another look at dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Ann NY Acad Sci 2000; 904: 45-54
• 21 Chapelle L, Rommers N, Clarys P, D’Hondt E, Taeymans J. Upper extremity bone mineral content asymmetries in tennis players: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci 2019; 37: 988-997
• 22 Jones HH, Priest JD, Hayes WC, Tichenor CC, Nagel DA. Humeral hypertrophy in response to exercise. J Bone Joint Surg Am 1977; 59: 204-208
• 23 Pirnay F, Bodeux M, Crielaard JM, Franchimont P. Bone mineral content and physical activity. Int J Sports Med 1987; 8: 331-335
• 24 Bosch TA, Steinberger J, Sinaiko AR, Moran A, Jacobs DR, Kelly AS, Dengel DR. Identification of sex-specific thresholds for accumulation of visceral adipose tissue in adults. Obesity 2015; 23: 375-382
• 25 Moon JR, Kendall KL. Endurance athletes. In Lukaski HC. Body Composition: Health and Performance in Exercise and Sport. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2017: 171-210
• 26 Hewett TE, Di Stasi SL, Myer GD. Current concepts for injury prevention in athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Am J Sports Med 2013; 41: 216-224