ArticleBMJ open2012
Seasonal change in bone, muscle and fat in professional rugby league players and its relationship to injury: a cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Seasonal Body Composition Changes in Elite Rugby Players: DXA and Anthropometry-Based Comparison of Backs and Forwards.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Multidimensional profiling of rugby league players: A systematic scoping review and expert Delphi consensus.PloS one · 2025Article
- Body composition and bone health outcomes across positional groups in Netball Super League (NSL) senior and under-21 players; a multi-year cohort study.South African journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Forearm bone mineral density in adult men after spinal cord injuries: impact of physical activity level, smoking status, body composition, and muscle strength.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- Pre-season body composition has minimal influence on in-season match availability, and match performance in female Australian Football League (AFLW) players.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
- Body composition in professional female netball players within and between seasons: a cohort study.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Tackle injury epidemiology and performance in rugby league - narrative synthesis.South African journal of sports medicine · 2021Article
- Cardiovascular Health of Retired Field-Based Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2019Review
- Can anthropometric, body composition, and bone variables be considered risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries in Brazilian military students?BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Article
- Article
- Applied sport science of rugby league.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo examine the anthropometric characteristics of an Australian National Rugby League team and identify the relationship to type and incidence of injuries sustained during a professional season. It was hypothesised that body composition would not change discernibly across a season and that injury would be negatively related to preseason bone and muscle mass.
designA repeated measure, prospective, observational, cohort study.
settingGriffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
participants37 professional male Australian National Rugby League players, 24.3 (3.8) years of age were recruited for preseason 1 testing, of whom 25 were retested preseason 2. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures included biometrics; body composition (bone, muscle and fat mass; dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; XR800, Norland Medical Systems, Inc); bone geometry and strength (peripheral quantitative CT; XCT 3000, Stratec); calcaneal broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; QUS-2, Quidel); diet and physical activity history. Secondary outcome measures included player injuries across a single playing season.
resultsLean mass decreased progressively throughout the season (pre=81.45(7.76) kg; post=79.89(6.72) kg; p≤0.05), while whole body (WB) bone mineral density (BMD) increased until mid-season (pre=1.235(0.087) g/cm(2); mid=1.296(0.093) g/cm(2); p≤0.001) then decreased thereafter (post=1.256(0.100); p≤0.001). Start-of-season WB BMD, fat and lean mass, weight and tibial mass measured at the 38% site predicted bone injury incidence, but no other relationship was observed between body composition and injury.
conclusionsSignificant anthropometric changes were observed in players across a professional rugby league season, including an overall loss of muscle and an initial increase, followed by a decrease in bone mass. Strong relationships between anthropometry and incidence of injury were not observed. Long-term tracking of large rugby league cohorts is indicated to obtain more injury data in order to examine anthropometric relationships with greater statistical power.
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