Body Composition and Aerobic Capacity in Combat Sports Athletes: A Gender Comparison and an Investigation of The Relationship

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare aerobic capacity and body composition variables ac-cording to gender in combat sports athletes and to examine the relationship between body composition and VO₂max. The study included 72 active combat sports athletes (kickbox-ing, Muay Thai, boxing) from the province of Mersin, comprising 37 women and 35 men. Participants underwent anthropometric measurements and the Yo-Yo endurance test. Men’s VO₂max values (53.12 ± 6.34 ml/kg/min) were found to be significantly higher than women’s (41.57 ± 1.17 ml/kg/min) (p<0.05). Women had a higher body fat percentage than men, while men had a higher percentage of muscle mass than women. A strong negative correlation (r = −0.67) was found between VO₂max and body fat percentage, and a weak positive correlation (r = 0.27) between VO₂max and muscle mass; no significant relation-ship was found with BMI. The results indicate that body composition is an important fac-tor in determining aerobic capacity, particularly that body fat percentage has a strong ef-fect on VO₂max. It can be concluded that BMI is a limited indicator of aerobic performance in this population.

Keywords

• Combat sports
• VO₂max
• Body composition
• Body fat percentage

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval was obtained from the Mersin University Sports Sciences Ethics Committee prior to the start of the study (08/10/2025-084).

Dövüş Sporcularında Vücut Kompozisyonu ve Aerobik Kapasite: Cinsiyet Karşılaştırması ve İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, dövüş sporları sporcularında cinsiyete göre aerobik kapasite ve vücut kompozisyonu değişkenlerini karşılaştırmak ve vücut kompozisyonu ile VO₂max arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektir. Çalışmaya Mersin ilinden 37 kadın ve 35 erkek olmak üzere 72 aktif dövüş sporları sporcusu (kickboks, Muay Thai, boks) dahil edilmiştir. Katılımcılara antropometrik ölçümler ve Yo-Yo dayanıklılık testi uygulanmıştır. Erkeklerin VO₂max değerlerinin (53,12 ± 6,34 ml/kg/dk) kadınlarınkinden (41,57 ± 1,17 ml/kg/dk) anlamlı derecede yüksek olduğu bulunmuştur (p<0,05). Kadınların vücut yağ oranı erkeklerden daha yüksekken, erkeklerin kas kütlesi oranı kadınlardan daha yüksek bulunmuştur. VO₂max ile vücut yağ yüzdesi arasında güçlü bir negatif korelasyon (r = −0,67) ve VO₂max ile kas kütlesi arasında zayıf bir pozitif korelasyon (r = 0,27) bulunmuştur; BMI ile anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmamıştır. Sonuçlar, vücut kompozisyonunun aerobik kapasiteyi belirlemede önemli bir faktör olduğunu, özellikle vücut yağ yüzdesinin VO₂max üzerinde güçlü bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu popülasyonda BMI'nin aerobik performansın sınırlı bir göstergesi olduğu sonucuna varılabilir.

Keywords

• Dövüş sporları
• Vo2max
• Vücut Kompozisyonu
• Vücut yağ oranı

Ethical Statement

Çalışmaya başlamadan önce Mersin Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Etik Kurulu'ndan etik onay alınmıştır (08/10/2025-084).

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