A follow-up study of the variations in the body composition of karate athletes

We monitored body composition variations in nine elite karateists during a 3-year period (T-1, T-2, T-3). Arm circumference (AC) and six skinfolds were measured. Arm muscle circumference (AMC) and area (AMA) were then calculated. Fat mass (FM) was calculated using the Durnin-Womersley, Sloan-Weir (S-W), Katch-McArdle and Lohman equations. The only significant increase regarded the AC, AMC and AMA measurements between T-1 and T-2. The time course of the predicted FM amount using the different equations was the same. In particular, the S-W equation did not seem to reflect the modifications in the amount of FM as evidenced by the total sum of the six skinfolds. Our subjects were characterized by a substantial uniformity in body composition parameters measured in this 3-year follow-up study.