Comparison of Anthropometric Measures of Competitive Bodybuilders to Judges' Scores and a Comparison of Judges' Scores

This research compared physical characteristics of bodybuilders to judges' rankings, and compared the judges' rankings across three levels of judges: Elite, Trained, and Untrained. Twenty-nine male and nine female bodybuilding athletes consented to anthropometric and circumference measurements. The independent variables in this study were bodyfat, fat-free weight, and proportionality of muscle. Three groups of judges ranked male and female athletes in the Open, Novice, Collegiate, and Masters divisions. The measurements of proportionality of muscle, bodyfat, girths, and fat-free weight were analyzed using simple and multiple regression. The judges' rankings in each class were compared using reliability coefficients, correlation, repeated measures analysis of variance, and the generalized theory for inter-rater reliability. There were significant correlations between the Elite judges' rankings and bodyfat in the Men's Open lightweight class. The Trained and Elite judges' rankings were significantly correlated with bodyfat in the Women's Novice class. Fat-free weight was significantly correlated with the Untrained and Elite judges' rankings in the Women's Novice division. Proportionality of muscle was significantly correlated with the Elite and Trained judges' rankings in the Men's Open lightweight class. Elite and Trained judges' rankings were significantly correlated with bodyfat and proportionality of muscle. All three groups of judges' were significantly correlated with the Overall rankings. The Trained judges' rankings were more correlated and more reliable with the Elite judges. The inter-rater reliability scores were higher for the Elite and Trained judges than for the Untrained judges. When fat-free weight was substituted for body weight in the calculation of proportionality of muscle, prediction of ranking was enhanced. The education session led to a significant disparity in judges' rankings between Trained and Untrained judges. Bodyfat appears to be a better selection variable when comparing physical measurements to judges' rankings in women. Proportionality of muscle is a better selection variable in predicting judges' rankings in men. Prediction models developed from this investigation need further testing.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Department dc:contributor.department

Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Gaines, Rodney P.

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Redican, Kerry J.
• Wojcik, Janet R.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Stratton, Richard K.
• Krouscas, James A. Jr.
• Fortune, Jimmie C.

• reliability
• bodyfat
• athletes
• judging
• bodybuilding
• anthropometrics

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10122001-163230

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/29253