Body weight and subcutaneous fat patterning in elite judokas

Body weight and fat are major performance variables in many sports. Extreme weight reduction can lead to severe medical problems. Accurate body composition measurements are fundamental for both medical and performance optimization. Relative body weight in terms of mass index (MI₁  = 0.53 M/(hs)), and in terms of body mass index (BMI = M/h² ) were determined (h:stature, s:sitting height, M:body mass). Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was measured using a recently standardized ultrasound (US) method. US thickness sums from eight body sites were measured in 26 female and 35 male judokas of various weight classes. Comparisons of US and skinfold results indicate that the latter can be severely misleading in competitive judokas. Mean MI₁ of females was 22.8 kg m^-2 (BMI:22.9 kg m^-2 ), males: 26.7 kg m^-2 (BMI:26.5 kg m^-2 ), but individual differences MI₁ -BMI were larger than 0.5 kg m^-2 in 13 and larger than 1.0 kg m^-2 in three cases. Medians of SAT thickness sums D_I were three-times higher in females (66.1 mm) than in males (21.8 mm), and the fat patterning differed significantly. Females had 8.6% (median) fibrous structures embedded in SAT, and males 20.2%. Both MI and BMI were not correlated with SAT. Mean pre-competition weight loss was 4.3% (ie, 3.0 kg), and maximum was 9.2% (7.4 kg), indicating that modifications of weigh-in procedures are urgently needed. D_I -values mirror the athletes' potential to reduce ballast fat instead of short-term weight reduction by dehydration; however, weight loss and SAT measured some weeks before the competitions were not correlated. Further, US measurements and medical longitudinal observations are required for discussing the large individual variations and possible fat minimum demands.