Abstract:
Maximum strength and body composition appear to be major factors influencing the
performance of a variety of sports. Especially, the sport of weightlifting requires maximum
strength and body composition in which two technique movements and wholebody
lifts are performed in the competition. Therefore, the purpose of this study was
to determine the relationship between selected body composition and the maximum
strength of elite Sri Lankan women weightlifters. The cross-sectional study used a
purposive sampling method and was carried out using Pearson’s correlation (r). A
total number of twenty-eight (n=28) Sri Lankan women elite weightlifters participated
as the study sample. The “TANITA RD953 body composition monitor” was used to
measure selected body composition (BMI, muscle mass, body fat, total body water),
and one repetition maximum (1RM) of three tests (Bench press, deadlift, squat) was
applied to measure the maximum strength. The correlation between the maximum
strength and body composition was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The results
indicated that lower body maximum strength has shown a positive correlation with
BMI (p = 0.006, r = 0.504), body fat (p = 0.100, r = 0.318), and muscle mass (p =
0.078, r = 0.339). The upper body maximum strength has shown a positive correlation
with BMI (p = 0.000, r = 0.629), body fat (p = 0.210, r = 0.244), and muscle mass
(p = 0.001, r = 0.527) but interestingly both upper and lower body maximum strength
was negatively correlated with total body water respectively (p = 0.234, r = −.233) and
(p = 0.023, r = −.427). From a general perspective, these results revealed that body
composition variables positively correlated with maximum strength but total body water
was negatively correlated with maximum strength.
