Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1999,
VOL.
26,
NO.
2, 179 184
1.
Introduction
180
K. Hattori et al.
wrestlers were participatants in the lowest and second-lowest Shindeshi league. The
collegiate students were non-athletes with no known health problems.
Body density (BD) was calculated from measurements of underwater weight and
residual lung volumes. In each case, the average of the three most closely agreeing
underwater weights of ve or six trials was used for determining BD. Body weight in
water was measured using a force electric-plate, which was equipped with a chair.
The water temperature was maintained at 37 1 C. Residual lung volume was
measured by the oxygen dilution technique (Wilmore, Vodak, Parr, Girandola
and Billing 1980). Percentage body fat (% fat) was calculated from BD using the
equation of Brozek, Grande, Anderson and Keys (1963), and FFM was estimated as
the di erence between total body mass and fat mass.
Fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) are derived from the
equations FM/Height2 and FFM/Height2 respectively. The body composition
chart (BCC) is the graphical equivalent of those two body composition indices
(Hattori, Tatsumi and Tanaka 1997).
We used the student t-test to determine di erences in means between Sumo
wrestlers and untrained men and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure
to evaluate the variables for di erences between the wrestling leagues. When signi cant di erences were found in the main factors, then Fishers protected least signi cant di erence post hoc test was employed (see table 3).
3.
Results
Physical characteristics and body composition for Sumo wrestlers and untrained
men are presented in table 1. The means of all variables for Sumo wrestlers are
extraordinarily large compared with untrained men p < 0. 001 .
The means and standard deviations of the variables for Sumo wrestlers in each
league and results of the analysis of variance of divisions of Sumo wrestlers are
presented in table 2. Signi cant di erences between wrestlers in di erent divisions
were found in body weight, fat-free mass, fat mass, body mass index, fat-free mass
index and fat mass index. No signi cant di erences were observed in stature and
% fat. Table 3 shows the multiple comparison test results for variables in which
signi cant di erences in the main factors were found. Signi cant di erences are
observed in all comparisons between Sekitori and the other divisions.
Table 1. Descriptive characteristics for Sumo wrestlers and untrained men.
Sumo wrestlers
( n 36)
Age
Stature (cm)
Body weight (kg)
% fat (% )
Fat mass (kg)
Fat-free mass (kg)
BMI (kg/m2)
FMI (kg/m2)
FFMI (kg/m2)
** Signi cant at 0.01 level.
Untrained men
( n 39)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
t-test
21.1
179.1
117.1
26.2
31.8
85.3
36.5
9.9
26.6
3.6
5.2
27.0
6.5
13.5
15.4
8.0
4.5
4.1
20.3
171.2
63.0
15.9
10.3
52.7
21.5
3.5
18.0
1.1
4.5
7.5
5.8
4.7
4.4
2.3
1.6
1.2
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
181
Table 2. Physique and body composition of Sumo wrestlers in each league and results of the analysis of
variance of leagues for Sumo wrestlers.
Sekitori
( n 7)
Makushita
( n 12)
Mean SD
Age
25.6
Stature (cm)
180.1
Body weight (kg) 154.2
% (fat) (% )
28.6
Fat mass (kg)
45.4
Fat-free mass (kg) 109.0
2
BMI (kg/m )
47.5
FMI (kg/m2)
13.9
2
FFMI (kg/m )
33.6
2.9
6.1
24.9
5.1
14.6
10.7
6.7
4.3
2.7
Sandanme
(n 12)
Shindeshi
(n 5)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
F values
df
20.7
178.8
105.7
22.2
24.0
81.7
32.9
7.5
25.5
2.2
5.8
17.5
5.4
8.8
11.3
4.4
2.6
2.7
19.8
179.4
109.3
28.2
31.3
78.0
34.0
9.7
24.3
3.5
4.4
18.2
4.2
9.6
9.2
5.8
3.0
3.1
18.7
177.3
110.7
27.4
32.5
78.3
35.6
10.5
25.0
3.1
5.3
24.7
11.3
17.0
8.4
9.1
5.6
3.6
0.305
9.926
2.586
5.040
16.087
9.706
4.903
16.513
3,
3,
3,
3,
3,
3,
3,
3,
di erence
32
32
32
32
32
32
32
32
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
*
**
**
% fat
FM
FFM
BMI
FMI
FFMI
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
The individual values of FMI and FFMI for Sumo wrestlers and untrained men
are plotted in the body composition chart in gure 1. The plots of wrestlers are
located towards the upper right side, showing that the Sumo wrestlers have markedly
large FFMI and FMI. In Sumo wrestlers, the plots of Sekitori are positioned further
to the upper right section. They have larger FMI and FFMI. The plots of the
wrestlers from classes lower than the Sekitori are located in the lower left section.
The lower division Sumo wrestlers share a common area in the chart and no hierarchical di erentiation can be observed among them.
4.
Discussion
The physiques of Sumo wrestlers are extraordinarily large. The plots of Sumo
wrestlers and untrained men are completely separated in the chart. It is usually
believed that Sumo wrestlers are obese and are therefore living anachronisms in a
modern lean-oriented society. However, the plots of Sumo wrestlers from the lower
divisions and untrained men overlap on the FMI axis. This means that adiposity
level of some Sumo wrestlers is not necessarily higher than that of some untrained
men. On the other hand, the di erentiation of the FFMI between Sumo wrestlers
and untrained men is conspicuous and important. It is due to the remarkable development of musculature of Sumo wrestlers as a result of continuous physical training
(Kondo et al. 1994).
Among Sumo wrestlers, a signi cant correlation was observed between FMI and
FFMI (r 0. 73). This is in contrast with the situation in the general population, in
182
K. Hattori et al.
Figure 1. Body composition chart for Sumo wrestlers and male students. Oblique lines representing the
BMI and% fat. All plots for Sekitori division wrestlers exceed 30 on the axis of fat-free mass index ( d
Sekitori, 3 Makushita, h Sandanme, m Shindeshi, s Untrained men).
which low interrelationships have been found between these two variables (Hattori
1991, Hattori et al. 1997). During training, professional Sumo wrestlers attempt to
gain weight by excess energy intake in addition to muscle training. This strategy is
used because the accumulation of body mass with the development of muscles is the
essential factor for the wrestlers to gain promotion to a higher league. This concordant change of body composition has been described by Forbes (1987) who
mentioned that individuals who gain weight due to a positive energy balance
would be expected to sustain an increment in FFM as well as fat. The mean % fat
value of all Sumo wrestlers was 26.2. This value is close to the mean % fat of
Shindeshi Sumo wrestlers (24.5) reported by Tanaka, Kato, Kikuchi, Nagatomo,
Nakajima, Shibayama, Ebashi, Nishijima, Matsuzawa and Ogawa (1979) and much
smaller than the value of moderately obese subjects (32.5) (van der Kooy, Leenen,
Deurenberg, Seidell, Westerterp and Hautvast 1992).
In this study, Sumo wrestlers demonstrated extraordinarily large values of FFM,
therefore their adiposity level tends to be underestimated. FMI is an indicator of
adiposity level which shows a signi cant correlation with % fat (r 0. 97 for males
and r 0. 95 for females) (Hattori 1991) and total fat thickness (Ishida, Kanehisa,
Carroll, Pollock, Graves and Ganzarella 1997) in untrained subjects. As this index is
independent of body weight, the adiposity levels of di erent groups which show large
discrepancies in body weight can be properly evaluated by this index. Means of FMI
for Sumo wrestlers and untrained men were 9.9 and 3.5 kg/m2 respectively. Among
the di erent levels of Sumo wrestlers, those from the Makushita class demonstrated
the lowest% fat (22.2) which is 6.3% above that of untrained men (15.9). However,
183
the FMI of Makushita wrestlers is 7.5 in contrast to a value of 3.5 for untrained
men more than twice as great.
Results of the ANOVA reveal that Sekitori division wrestlers had signi cantly
larger FFMI scores in comparison with wrestlers from the lower divisions. Wada
(1987) pointed out that the weight gain during the period between the beginner and
champion stages was mainly due to an increase in the lean tissue weight, particularly
in the muscle volume, rather than an increase in the fat tissue weight. The cut-o
point of FFMI which divides Sekitori wrestlers from other wrestlers is approximately 30 as shown by the bold line in gure 1. This may be one of the anthropometrical indications of whether or not a Sumo wrestler is destined to be successful
unless the existing rules for Sumo bouts are amended.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr Richard Danielson of Laurentian University for his
helpful comments and encouragement which led to the improved presentation of this
paper.
References
B roz ek , J., G rand e, F., A nderson , J. T., and K eyes, A., 1963, Densitometric analysis of body composi-
tion: revision of some quantitative assumptions. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 110, 113
140.
F orbes, G. B ., 1987, Lean body mass-body fat relationships in humans. Nutrition Reviews, 45, 225 231.
Hattori, K., 1991, Body composition and lean body mass index for Japanese college students. Journal of
Anthropological Society of Nippon, 99, 141 148.
Hattori, K., 1995, Physique of Sumo wrestlers in relation to some cultural characteristics of Japan. In
Social Aspect of Obesity, edited by I. de Garine and N. J. Pollock (Annapolis: Gordon and Breach
Publishers), pp. 31 43.
Hattori, K., Tatsumi, N. , and Tana ka , S., 1997, Assessment of body composition by using a new chart
method. American Journal of Human Biology, 9, 573 578.
Ishid a , Y., Kanehisa , H., C ar roll , J. F., Pollock , M. L., G raves, J. E., and Ganz arella , L., 1997,
Distribution of subcutaneous fat and muscle thicknesses in young- and middle-aged women.
American Journal of Human Biology, 9, 247 255.
Kond o , M., A be, T., Ikegaw a , S., Kaw akami, Y., and F u ku na ga , T., 1994, Upper limit of fat-free
mass in humans: a study on Japanese Sumo wrestlers. American Journal of Human Biology, 6, 613
618
M okha , R., and Sidhu , L. S., 1987, Body fat in various sportive groups. The Journal of Sports Medicine
and Physical Fitness, 27, 376 379.
R usso , E. G., G ruppioni, G., Gu eresi, P., B elcastro , M. G., and M archesini, V ., 1992, Skinfolds
and body composition of sports participants. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness,
32, 303 312.
Tanak a , K., K ato , H., K ikuchi, K., Nag atomo , M., Nakajima , H., Shibayama , H., E bashi, H.,
Nishijima , Y., M atsu z aw a , M., and O ga w a , S., 1979, Anthropometric and body composition
characteristics of Shindeshi Sumo wrestlers. Japanese Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports
Medicine, 28, 257 264. (in Japanese)
van der Kooy , K., Leenen , R., D eurenberg , P., Seidell , J. C., Westerterp , K. R. , and Hau tvast ,
J. G. A. J., 1992, Changes in fat-free mass in obese subjects after weight loss: a comparison of body
composition measures. International Journal of Obesity, 16 , 675 683.
W ada , S., 1987, Comparison of body weight and composition between Sumo champions and beginners.
Tokyo Ikadaigaku Zasshi, 45, 317 324. (in Japanese)
W atson , A. W. S., 1984, The physique of sportsmen: a study using factor analysis. Medicine and Science
in Sports and Exercise, 16, 287 293.
W ilmore, J. H., V oda k , P. A., Parr , R. B., Girandol a , R. N. , and B illing , J. E ., 1980, Further
simpli cation of a method for determination of residual lung volume. Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise, 12, 216 218.
Address for correspondence: Komei Hattori, Department of Health and Physical Education, Faculty
of Education, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki 310, Japan. e-mail: hattori@mito.ipc.ibaraki.ac.jp
184