ABSTRACT
The relative amounts of lean and fat mass are important factors in games players preparing for competitive performance. Lean mass contributes to power production during high-intensity activity whilst extra fat mass constitutes added load to be lifted against gravity during jumping and locomotion. Recent technological advances have enhanced accuracy and precision in the measurement of body composition. The emergence of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) as a body composition tool has promoted much interest in the field of anthropometry due to its unique ability to subdivide the body into separate components of bone mineral mass, fat mass and fat-free mass. Additionally, it overcomes the population-specific nature of equations for predicting body fat from anthropometric measures, and the assumptions of constant fatfree tissue density associated with hydrodensitometry.
