Relación de la composición corporal con la potencia y la fuerza en taekwondoínes jóvenes competitivos

Introduction: Taekwondo demands lower-limb power and strength. Body composition changes quickly during growth in young athletes, yet little is known about how it relates to these capacities in Latin American taekwondo athletes. Objective: To analyze the relationship of muscle mass and body fat percentage with vertical jump and handgrip strength in young taekwondo athletes. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 30 competitive taekwondo athletes from Veracruz, Mexico (16 females and 14 males; aged 9 to 21 years). Body composition was estimated by bioelectrical impedance, and countermovement vertical jump and handgrip strength were measured. Crude and age- and sex-adjusted Spearman correlations and multiple linear regression were used. Results: Muscle mass percentage was associated with vertical jump after adjusting for age and sex (partial ρ = 0.44; p = 0.018); each additional percentage point corresponded to 1.25 cm higher jump (95 % CI: 0.46 to 2.03). The negative association of body fat percentage (partial ρ = −0.38; p = 0.046) lost significance after excluding two influential cases. Neither body mass nor BMI was related to jump after adjustment. Muscle mass in kilograms explained most of absolute handgrip strength (R² = 0.86), whereas handgrip strength relative to body mass was associated with muscle mass percentage (partial ρ = 0.45; p = 0.017). Conclusion: In these taekwondo athletes, jump height and relative strength depended on the proportion of muscle in the body rather than on body mass or BMI. Nutritional assessment in weight-category sports should include body composition and not rely on body mass alone.