RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 MRI evaluation of body composition changes in wrestlers undergoing rapid weight loss
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 814
OP 818
DO 10.1136/bjsm.2007.044081
VO 42
IS 10
A1 T Kukidome
A1 K Shirai
A1 J Kubo
A1 Y Matsushima
A1 O Yanagisawa
A1 T Homma
A1 K Aizawa
YR 2008
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/42/10/814.abstract
AB Purpose: Changes in body composition of college wrestlers undergoing rapid weight reduction were evaluated over time using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods: This study evaluated 12 wrestlers (male, 18–22 years of age) who participated in Japan’s 2005 intercollegiate wrestling tournament. For this study, MRI (of the right femoral region and the trunk), as well as measurements of body weight, body fat percentage and body water content, were performed 1 month and 1 week prior to the weigh-in, on the day of the weigh-in, on the day of the match (after the match), and 1 week after the weigh-in. A survey of food and fluid intake was also conducted.Results: Several variables were significantly lower on the day of the weigh-in than one month prior: body weight (p<0.01, −7.3% (SD 1.6%)); body fat (p<0.05, −9.3 (5.8)%); body water content (p<0.01, −5.9 (1.6)%); trunk cross-section (p<0.01, −13.2 (4.4)%), including separate measurements of trunk viscera, trunk muscle, and trunk fat; quadriceps muscle; lower subcutaneous; and food intake (p<0.01, 122 (20)). At 1 week after the match, all metrics had recovered to their levels measured 1 month before the weigh-in. Certain variables that were highly sensitive to hydration recovered more rapidly: they had reached their initial levels when measured immediately after the match.Conclusion: Rapid weight reduction reduced the wrestlers’ cross-sectional areas of muscle and fat tissues, which tended to recover through rehydration after the weigh-in. These results suggest that rapid weight reduction of wrestlers induced changes in different regions of the body.