Anthropometric measures and body composition of male walkers of the ‘All India Inter-University Athletics Championship’ in relation to walking performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine relationship between anthropometric parameters and athletic performance of inter-university level collegiate male athletes. The seven male walkers were randomly selected amongst the 22 walkers of the AIIU Athletic (Men and Women) Championship-2000 organised by G.N.D. University, Amritsar (Punjab). Each athlete was analysed in terms of 53 different variables, viz., anthropometric (39), compositional (13) and performance (1). Physique was quantified in term of stature corrected percentage deviation scores of muscular and non-muscular body girth. Body composition was assessed by measuring skinfold thickness, body fat by using equation of Katch and McArdle (1973) and body density by Siri (1956) equation. The performance of the walkers was assessed on the basis of their rank in the competition. Most of the variables of physique and body composition except elbow diameter had lower value as compared to reference man of Behnke and Wilmore (1974). BMI analysis indicates that one walker (chest no. 292) having BMI less than 18.5 was underweight that might be due to the vigorous training or malnutrition. Only three amongst the selected athletes secured position in the 6th place qualifying standard, i.e., 1 hour 46 minutes 50 second. Study did not reveal any relationship between anthropometric variables and performance.