Physical Characterstics of Junior Athletes in India Across Training Phase and Sports

Introduction: Adolescent athletes are at a crucial age, requiring energy for training, apart from growth and young athletes need to maintain a positive energy balance. Changes in physical characteristics, particularly body composition are also a part of the growing phase and may reflect on energy balance. Therefore, the present study aimed to understand the physical characteristics of junior athletes across the different phases of training. Methods: In this longitudinal study, 79 junior athletes (Athletics: Boys=19, Girls=17; Football: Boys=13, Girls=16; Weightlifting: Boys=9, Girls=5 at PC-rest phase and sample size varies across the phases) aged 10-17 years were recruited from a State Sports School, with majority participating at the national-level and training for a minimum of 24-hours per week for a minimum period of 3-years. Physical characteristics including circumferences and body composition (using sum of 4-skinfolds) was assessed across post-competitive rest (PC-rest, January), preparatory (PP, July) & competition phase (CP, December) in a calendar year. The differences in physical characteristics across phases of training within sports was assessed using the mixed-method ANOVA and across events using univariate ANOVA. Results: Across training phases, the boys in athletics event, showed a decrease in circumferences like neck, waist, thigh, and calf from PC-rest to CP phase, however, male football players showed a significant increase in neck, waist, thigh, calf, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumferences (MUAC), along with supra-spinale skinfold. Further, weightlifting boys also exhibited a significant increase in Chest, MUAC and fat-free mass, with a significant decline in bicep and supra-spinale skinfold across PC-rest to CP phase. Across events, body fat percent was lower among athletic group and fat-free mass was higher among weightlifters, while footballers exhibited a higher fat percentage at CP. MUAC was higher in weightlifters, irrespective of training phase and event. Conclusion : Physical characteristics, particularly circumferences and body composition varied across events and phases of training, with weightlifters exhibiting a greater improvement in fat-free mass, while track athletes exhibiting lower fat percentage at CP-phase. Further studies on larger data-sets are warranted for exploring normative standards for Indian athletes.