Bioelectrical impedance analysis as a means of quantifying upper and lower limb asymmetry in youth elite tennis players: An explorative study

Abstract

This study aimed to examine side-to-side differences in phase angle (PhA) in both upper and lower limbs of youth elite tennis players. Among other outcomes, PhA was directly determined using segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in 26 tennis players (11.6 ± 1.1 years, 54% boys) and compared against a sex-and age-matched reference population. Significant upper limb asymmetry in PhA (p < 0.001), with a higher value on the dominant side of the body, was observed in the tennis players. At lower limb level, the tennis players showed a tendency towards a significantly higher PhA in the contralateral compared to the ipsilateral limb (p = 0.089). Using vector analysis (BIVA), a significant degree of PhA asymmetry (p = 0.002) was only reflected in the tennis players' upper limb. Additional segmental outcomes also demonstrated a significant degree of upper limb asymmetry in terms of tennis players' lean mass (p < 0.001), total segmental water (p < 0.001), fat mass (p < 0.001), extracellular water (p < 0.001) and extracellular water ratio (p < 0.001), whereas lower limb asymmetry was only observed in tennis players' fat mass (p = 0.037) and extracellular water (p = 0.001). This is the first study to report significantly more pronounced BIA-based side-to-side differences in youth elite tennis players compared to a non-athletic reference population at the upper limb level, whereas no significant between-group differences in the lower limbs were found. This explorative study should trigger future research to further scrutinize the role of BI(V)A as a promising field-method in monitoring bodily asymmetries in youth elite tennis players in view of sport performance and athletic health. Highlights. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis is a promising field-method to monitor side-to-side asymmetry in youth elite tennis players. . Youth elite tennis players displayed a more pronounced degree of BIA-based side-to-side differences compared to a non-athletic reference population at the upper limb level, whereas whilst between-group differences appeared to be less evident in the lower limbs. . Future research is warranted to scrutinize whether and to what extent these degrees of segmental bodily asymmetry may be related to injury risk (prevention) and athletic development of (pre)adolescent tennis players.

Regional Bioelectrical Phase Angle Is More Informative than Whole-Body Phase Angle for Monitoring Neuromuscular Performance: A Pilot Study in Elite Young Soccer Players

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between regional PhA and performance in elite youth soccer, regardless of the mostly used indirect parameters of body composition such as FFM and FM. While one study did not report any improvement when using regional measures of PhA to estimate lower-body power compared with WBPhA [ 16 ], regional BIA approaches have been proven effective in individual and team sports to monitor health, training-induced changes, and fitness level [ 23 , 42 ]. This is in accordance with the results of a previous study [ 21 ] showing the potential superior usefulness of LPhA, compared with WBPhA, as a surrogate marker of lower-body neuromuscular performance in elite soccer players.…”

Variation Factors and Dynamic Modeling Analysis of Tennis Players’ Competitive Ability Based on Big Data Mining Algorithm

“…Use some method to measure and identify the patterns found by data mining, and evaluate their effectiveness and applicability [10]. Improve the proportion of young athletes, shorten the training time, and prolong the athletes' sports career; at the microlevel, strengthen the monitoring of the scientific training process to make the training content more targeted and effective [11]. Among them, physical fitness, as an important basis for competitive ability of competitive athletes, is the basis for supporting other competitive ability elements and normal play of super level competition [12].…”

Body Composition and Strength Symmetry of Kettlebell Sport Athletes

“…In both sexes and through the life cycle, the dominant leg and arm (more frequently the right arm) show higher values of lean mass and strength [ 2 , 6 ], while the differences in the fat mass (FM) are generally less accentuated [ 6 ]. Among athletes, some disciplines, such as tennis, fencing, and soccer, are more commonly associated with differences between sides [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Indeed, the dominant upper or lower limbs of athletes practicing tennis [ 12 , 13 ] or soccer [ 10 , 11 ] have shown higher muscle mass and strength.…”