Somatotype of male taekwondists. A study on spanish national team

Abstract

Taekwondo is a sport where the competitors participate in a certain category in function of its weight. Corporal composition and body fat percentage are parameters to keep in mind for the sport success, partially. So, among the parameters to keep in mind for the sport performance is the sportsman’s somatotype. In the study 54 taekwondo players were analyzed divided in 3 groups in function of their level (group 1: n = 20, senior national team; group 2: n = 15, junior national team; group 3: n = 19, competitors without results). All the players participated in the Stage for Manchester preolímpic settings. The objective of the present study is to define the male high level Spanish Taekwondo player antrophometric profile. The results showed a mean somatotype of 2.23-5.41-2.84, while the senior group possesses a balancedmesomorfic somatotype (2.11-5.07-2.71). The junor group is defined as ecto-mesomorfic (2.02-6.12-3.21), and the group 3 had a somatotype (2.51-5.22-2.69). Somatotype is not a defined parameter for the sport’s excellence.