STUDY OF BODY COMPOSITION AMONG UNIVERSITY LEVEL JUDO PLAYERS IN RELATION TO DIFFERENT WEIGHT CATEGORIES

The purpose of this study was to compare the body composition parameters among the judo players of different weight categories. Total fifty male judo players of age 19 to 28 years from different universities of India were analyzed on the basis of different weight categories. The judo players were divided into three groups on the basis of different weight categories i.e. lightweight group, middle weight group and heavy weight group. Body weight of the judo players was measured with a portable weighing machine. Height measurements were taken using the standard anthropometric rod. The skinfolds thicknesses of body parts of the subjects were taken with Harpenden skinfold caliper. Percentage body fat as estimated from the sum of skinfolds was calculated using the standard equations. One-way analysis of variance revealed that the judo players of different weight categories were found to have significant differences in height (p<0.05), Weight (p<0.05) and body mass index (p<0.05). Similarly the judo players were found to have significant differences in percent body fat (p<0.05), total body fat (p<0.05) and lean body mass (p<0.05). The heavy weight judo players reported significantly better body composition components i.e. percent body fat, total body fat and even in lean body mass as compared to middle weight and light weight judo players. The middle weight judo players showed significantly better body composition components than the light weight judo players.