Examining the Relationship Between Body Composition Values and Performance Indicators in Wrestlers at the World Cup

Background and Study Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of body composition on the performance of wrestlers from the top ten national teams. The study was carried out on a sample of 78 Greco-Roman wrestlers (aged 20–30 years) from the top 10 Greco-Roman wrestling teams taking part in the World Cup held in Tehran in 2015. Material and Methods. Demographic characteristics were recorded from information cards, body mass index (BMI) using the BMI Formula (BMI = kg/m2), and Body fat percentage was determined (PBF) using Tanita (TBF-300 A). The success rate of wrestlers based on their performance in the World Cup was also collected. Data were analyzed using the SPSS19 package program. The K-S test, was used for normal distribution of data; the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficient to investigate the relationship between variables averages; paired T test and Anova to evaluate the mean difference between the variables, and the LSD test was used to compare the averages among groups. Results. No difference was observed in the mean of BMI and PBF among the teams. There was a significant relationship between BMI and PBF and some of the performance indicators. There was no significant relationship between BMI, PBF, and the titles won by the participating teams was observed. Conclusıons. In this study, we interpret the present findings to confirm previous observations of the general athlete population about the negative effect of elevated BMI and PBF on selected parameters of sports performance. The present results indicate that excess body mass has a more negative effect on performance indicators in participating teams. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.