Somatotype, Body Composition and Explosive Power of Athlete and Non-Athlete

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the effect of somatotype and body composition variables on leg explosive power of college level men students. The sample consisted of 500 young college students, divided into two groups: athletes (N= 250) undergoing Bachelor of Physical Education course whose mean age 23.86 ± 0.36 years; and non-athletes (N= 250) college students who do not take part regular physical activities and mean age 22.16 ± 0.88 years. The somatotype was assessed using the Heath & Carter method. Assessing body composition of the subject various anthropometric measurements were taken. Sargent vertical jump test was used to measure leg explosive power. The measures were compared between the two groups using the Student t-test for independent samples. The two groups differed significantly (p≤0.01) in terms of body weight, % body fat, lean body mass, % skeletal muscle mass and somatotype. The findings of the present study showing that athlete have higher mean values in leg explosive power (p≤0.01) than non-athlete. The leg explosive power was positively significantly (p≤0.01) correlated with % skeletal muscle mass, lean body mass, mesomorphy and ectomorphy components of somatotype; on the other hand body weight, height, % body fat, body surface area and endomorphy component of somatotype significantly (p≤0.01) negatively correlated. In conclusion, somatotype and body composition variables are important factors in determining leg explosive power.