Physique, Body Composition and Maximum Oxygen Consumption of Selected Soccer Players of Kunimi High School, Nagasaki, Japan

Abstract

This study evaluates the physical and physiological ability of selected soccer players of Kunimi High School in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The Kunimi team is famous for its intensive training, and had won the championship of the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament six times by 2003. We measured physique, body composition, and maximal oxygen uptake of 72 members aged between 16 and 18 years old between 1986 and 1994. They consisted of 66 outfield players (12 forward players, 23 midfielders, 31 defenders) and 6 goalkeepers. Body density was measured by the under-water weighing method, and Brozek's equation was applied to calculate percentage body fat (%Fat, %), fat-free mass (FFM, kg), FFM/height (FFM/Ht, kg·m⁻¹), and FFM index (FFM/Ht³, kg·m⁻³). The following results were obtained: 1. The average of 66 outfield players was 172.7 cm of height, 64.6 kg of weight, 54.0 cm of girth of thigh, and 90.0 cm of girth of hip, 9.3% of %Fat, 58.6 kg of FFM, 33.9 kg·m⁻¹ of FFM/Ht and 113.8 kg·m⁻³ of FFM index. The mean vital capacity was 4.25 L and total lung capacity was 5.58 L. The mean maximal ventilation was 138.7 L·min⁻¹, VO₂max was 3.95 L·min⁻¹, and VO₂max/Wt was 61.4 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹. 2. Goalkeepers were taller and heavier than outfielders, and had a smaller mean value of VO₂max/Wt than outfielders (pEmax, VO₂max and VO₂max/Wt did not change. Kunimi players of the present study had as large a VO₂max/Wt as local players, and a similar or slightly smaller VO₂max/Wt than national-level players. They had similar %Fat and a similar VO₂max/Wt with professional soccer players in England (Davis et al., 1992) while they had much smaller physiques.