Knowledge of a successful athlete's physical structure is a necessary point of departure for talent selection, the basis for the phenomenon known as morphological optimization, which aims to achieve optimal physical structure, body composition and somatotype for most efficient athletic performance in any sport. Morphological optimization is a gradual process, the evolution of which has been described for many sports population.1

The processes of “sport morphological optimization” occur within and across generations. In these circumstances, the final body shape and composition in a given sport results in the new morphological conceptual model in order to practice the medical management of athletic training.2

Morphological conceptual models always have changes, many times in professional as well as amateur sport. For example, Olds3 reported that shape and composition of rugby union players have changed since 1975; as a result, the mean somatotype of rugby players changed from 3.8–4.8–2.0 for 1975 to 3.2–7.2–1.2 for 1995–1999. Ackland et al.4 found that the morphology of canoe paddlers evolved between 1975 and 2000 toward a more compact build. C¿k et al.5 showed that there was a significant difference in the width of the shoulders and pelvis of the gymnasts in 1933 and those in 2000, the contemporary athletes were wider in their shoulders and narrower in their pelvis. Lozovina et al.6 also found that the body structure of Croatian water polo players changed as a result of morphological optimization between 1980 and 2008, in terms of greater height and more elongated limbs, with thinner waist and broader shoulders. Sands et al.,7 on the other hand, demonstrated that women Olympic gymnasts were getting smaller through approximately the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, the size of these female gymnasts has increased and a more mesomorphic somatotype may have an advantage. Sedeaud et al.8 found a secular increase in weight, height and body mass index of the four major US sports players (football, basketball, baseball and hockey) following a multi-exponential function pattern.

The last contribution to morphological profile of Cuban sporting population took place in the Olympic cycle 1976–1980.9 Thirty years after, Carvajal et al.10 demonstrated that body composition and physical structure in Cuban sporting population have changed according to secular trend, differential selection for body size, sport morphological adaptation, more qualified international championship and changes within the game. These authors10 found significant changes in weight, height and somatotype in a group of Cuban athletes that included volleyball players, rhythmic gymnasts and artistic gymnasts between 1976 and 2008.

Considering that Cuba has figured as a sporting power in the international context since 1970s, the purpose of this study was to provide new anthropometrical references data for many sporting disciplines in a form that may be readily utilized to practice the medical management of athletic training.

Descriptive data on physical characteristics of 1255 Cuban athletes are presented in Table 1 as mean values for each sporting modalities as well as the associated standard deviations (X±SD).

In general, male athletes involved in sports where a weight class has to be made to compete, such as boxing, wrestling, judo and weight lifting, events such as the artistic gymnastics and diving, and track and jump athletics (long jump, high jump, 110m hurdle and 100, 200, 400, 800, >800m) demonstrated lower % fat (<8%) and endomorphy (<2.5) than in the mean population.

In female athletes involved in sports where a weight class has to be made to compete, such as judo, athletic events such as the 100m hurdle, 100, 200, 400, 800 and >800m, esthetic sports such as the artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnasts, and sports such as volleyball, fencing and cycling (road and track) demonstrated lower % fat (<14.3%) and endomorphy (<2.9) than in the mean population.

On the other hand, male athletes involved in sports where body size is a definite advantage, such as baseball, athletics throwing (shot put, javelin and discus), judo >100, weight lifting >105, and sports where a weight class has to be made to compete such as wrestling, judo and weight lifting tended to have a larger FFMI (>1.30g/cm3) and mesomorphy (>6.2) than in the mean population.

In female athletes involved in sports where body size is a definite advantage, such as athletics throwing (shot put and discus) and judo >78, sports where a weight class has to be made to compete such as judo, and track and road cyclists tended to have a larger FFMI (>1.19g/cm3) and mesomorphy (>4.0) than in the mean population.

The somatocharts (Figs. 1–3) illustrate the physical distributions for male and female Cuban athletes. In general, male and female athletes involved in sports where a weight class has to be made to compete, such as wrestling, judo and weight lifting, and events such as athletics throwing (shot put, javelin and discus) were more mesomorphic, than other sporting modalities. In contrast, male and female athletes involved in sports such as volleyball, basketball, rhythmic gymnasts and athletic modalities such as 400, 800, >800m were more ectomorphic than others.

Figure 1.

Somatochart showing the mean somatoplots of Cuban male sporting modalities.

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Figure 2.

Somatochart showing the mean somatoplots of Cuban male sporting modalities. B#, boxing; WL#, weight lifting; J#, judo; W#, wrestling.

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Figure 3.

Somatochart showing the mean somatoplots of Cuban female sporting modalities. J#, judo.

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Anthropometry in Cuba has the same classical base used in certification programs.17 Therefore, the prototypes of Cuban athletes can be added to the information already available for description and comparison of elite athletes.

In this study, the Cuban athletes showed lower S6skf mean values (male, S6skf=48.3mm and female, S6skf=67.6mm) than those showed for the Spanish sporting population (male, S6skf=53.2mm and female=78.97mm)18 and the Venezuelan sporting population (male, S6skf=49.0mm and female=92.6mm).19 In comparison to male athletes, differences between Cuban and foreign female athletes were most pronounced. Due to the historical high-level performance achieved by the studied Cuban sample, it might be thought that body composition is in agreement with this.

In general, the Cuban sporting modalities satisfy the rules of sport morphological optimization: athletes involved in a sport where their body weight is supported, such as canoe and kayak, rowing and swimming had means % BF values. Athletes involved in sports where a weight class has to be made to compete, in athletics, all the track events, high and long jump, that are very anaerobic in nature and extremely aerobic events such as the >800m demonstrated lower % BF values. In contrast, athletes involved in sports where body size is a definite advantage, such as baseball, athletics throwing, and heavyweight judoist >100, weight lifting >105 and wrestler had a larger FFMI.

These results were qualitatively similar to those of the Olympic athletes. Fleck conducted a study with a sample of 826 athletes participating in Olympic events and found that athletes involved in a sport where their body weight is supported, such as canoe and kayak and swimming had higher % BF values. Athletes involved in sports where a weight class has to be made to compete, such as boxing and wrestling, events such as the 100, 200 and 400m in athletes that are very anaerobic in nature and extremely aerobic events such as the marathon demonstrated lower % BF values. Athletes involved in sports where body size is a definite advantage, such as basketball and volleyball tended to have a larger Lean Body Mass.20

With respect to the methodology used, in 1982, after 6 years of the Montreal Olympic Game Anthropological Project (MOGAP), Lindsay Carter introduced the Yuhasz six-site skinfold equations to estimate % BF in elite athletes of different disciplines.2 For this reason, MOGAP and the research literature provided abundant reference values on the Yuhasz body fat estimated.2,18,19,21 In spite of this clear difference with another equation, Whiters et al.13,14 are the only equation that have been developed on a large number of elite adult athletes from a variety of sports.

International scientific literature show more data based on the use of Yuhasz and Faulkner2,21–23 equations than the Whiters et al. equations and his FFMI. In Cuba, the Whiters et al. six-site skinfold equations were introduced by Carvajal et al.24 whom noted that this method is more sensitive to monitor small changes in body fat of elite athletes. This method was also proposed by Rodriguez et al.19 in Venezuela, while Alvero et al.25 and Canda18 proposed two different variants of Whithers et al. equations in Spain.

According to Tittel and Wutscherk,16 FFMI can discriminate between different types of sporting modalities, and between competitive levels, is the most commonly used index to evaluate the effects of sport training on relative fat free mass. This method was first proposed by Tittel and Wutscherk16; after 1970, it was recommended by Rodriguez,9 Pancorbo,26 Canda18 and Carvajal et al.27 In this study, athletes involved in sports where body size is a definite advantage had a larger FFMI.

This study provides new reference values for the assessment of the body composition and the somatotype in Cuban athletes. This knowledge offers support to practice the medical management of athletic training, can also offer practical assistance to coaches in the suitable selection for the correct sporting modalities, in accordance with the model anthropometric characteristics of an elite sporting population. On the other hand, we introduced Whiters et al. six-site skinfold equation estimated of high-performance athletes, which were derived from high-performance athletes data set.

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The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interests.