Whole body and regional phase angle as indicators of muscular performance in athletes

Abstract

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)-derived phase angle (PhA) has been used to assess cellular health in various populations, but its usefulness as a tool for measuring muscular performance in adult athletes has not been extensively investigated. Our investigation examined the association of whole-body (WB) PhA with muscular performance in 117 adult athletes from different sports and additionally assessed whether regional PhA was a better indicator of muscular performance compared to WB, while accounting for lean soft tissue (LST). Muscular performance was assessed with handgrip strength and countermovement jump power. WB and regional PhA and LST were obtained by BIA and dualenergy x-ray absorptiometry, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to model outcomes, while adjusting for LST. WB PhA was positively associated with relative power and relative and absolute strength (p < 0.05), irrespective of LST. Regional PhA measures explained similar amounts of variance in absolute and relative power and strength as that of WB PhA after accounting for age, sex, height, and sport type (lower limb adj R 2 = 0.42, 0.60 for power; upper limb adj R 2 = 0.38, 0.74 for strength; WB adj R 2 = 0.44, 0.63 and 0.38, 0.75 for power and strength, respectively). Only upper limb PhA was related with strength (p < 0.05) after accounting for upper limb LST. PhA may have the potential to be used as a marker of functional muscle mass, which is important when it comes to assessing muscular performance of athletes. Regional measures of PhA do not provide a better indicator of regional strength or power when compared to WB PhA.

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.…”

“…Hetherington-Rauth [ 16 ] reported that PhA may have the potential to be used as a marker of functional muscle mass, which is important when it comes to assessing handgrip strength and countermovement jump power of athletes from different sports [ 16 ]. In this view, Obayashi et al [ 17 ] showed that WBPhA strongly correlated with muscle performance (e.g., muscle strength and power).…”

Assessment of Body Composition in Athletes: A Narrative Review of Available Methods with Special Reference to Quantitative and Qualitative Bioimpedance Analysis

“…From 2000 to 2014, BIA was used in 15 studies [ 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], with a peak of 11 articles published in 2015 [ 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ], followed by a decline 2 years later [ 24 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ], before undergoing a progressive increase beginning in 2018 up until 2020 [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 <...>…”

Association between Phase Angle from Bioelectric Impedance and Muscular Strength and Power in Physically Active Adults

“…Moreover, it is a portable, non-invasive and inexpensive method, considering each evaluation [ 6 ]. Previous studies have shown that PhA is associated with functionality [ 7 ], muscle mass quantity [ 6 , 8 , 9 ] and muscle quality [ 10 ], as well as with physical performance in different populations and age groups [ 11 ]. More specifically, associations between PhA and knee isokinetic muscle strength and jump performance in adolescent athletes [ 12 ], strength of upper and lower limbs in former athletes [ 6 ], muscle power of upper limbs [ 13 ] and lower limbs in athletes [ 11 ], maximum anaerobic power and fatigue index [ 14 ] and sprint speed [ 15 ] in soccer athletes, were observed.…”

“…Moreover, PhA has been associated with performance variables in the athletic population [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ] and in the elderly [ 20 , 25 , 26 ]. However, to the best of our knowledge, this association has not yet been observed or even tested in active adults engaging in RT.…”