Correlational Analysis between Fat Free Mass and Physical Performance in College Students

Correlational Analysis between Fat Free Mass and Physical Performance in College Students PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between fat free mass (FFM) and physical performance in college students. METHODS: Fat free mass (FFM) was evaluated using the BodPod in a sample of 21 male and 12 female students. Various performance metrics were measured, including handgrip strength, aerobic capacity (via VO2max test), anaerobic capacity (peak power and peak force through Wingate test), vertical jump height, and broad jump distance. Spearman correlations were used to evaluate correlations between FFM and performance metrics, stratified by sex where p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Significant correlations found only in male participants included FFM vs. VO2max (r = 0.6815, p=0.0073), FFM vs. peak power (r = 0.7719, p=0.0248), and FFM vs. peak force (r = 0.5732, p=0.0203) while in female participants, the only significant correlation was FFM vs. peak force (r = 0.6450, p=0.0441). However, after combining the data regardless of sex, FFM showed significant positive correlations with handgrip strength (r = 0.7715, p < 0.0001) and VO2max (r =0.8035, p < 0.0001). FFM also correlated with broad jump distance (r = 0.4806, p < 0.05) and anaerobic capacity (peak force: r = 0.8167, p < 0.0001; relative peak power: r = -0.6246, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: FFM is strongly associated with muscular strength, aerobic, and anaerobic performance, particularly in males. In females, FFM is linked to peak force. These findings highlight sex-specific differences in body composition impacting physical performance and emphasize the importance of FFM for enhancing performance outcomes.