The Relationship Between Selected Body Composition and Maximum Strength of Elite Sri Lankan Women Weightlifters

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.