Comparison of body composition and handgrip strength of National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) precision athletes

Precision athletes require good upper limbs strength to perform well on their respective sports regardless of their body shape but most of them neglect the importance of having a good handgrip strength. The objective of this study was to investigate the differences between anthropometric measurement, body composition and handgrip strength among National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) precision athletes. The NDUM’s precision athletes were divided into three types of precision sports which were archery, shooting and lawn bowl. Forty-two active NDUM’s precision athletes aged 19.6 ± 1.06 years (archery); 20.5 ± 1.43 years (shooting); 20.0 ± 1.62 (lawn bowl) were participated in this study. All the athletes were evaluated for anthropometric parameters (height, weight, BMI) using standard procedures. Body composition (body fat percentage (%), muscle mass (kg), bone mass (kg), total body water (%), visceral fat level (%) was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analyser (BIA) while for handgrip strength test were using handgrip dynamometer (KYTO, EH101, KYTO Fitness Technology, China) with standard procedures. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between NDUM’s precision athlete in term anthropometric parameters, body composition and handgrip strength. However, visceral fat showed a significant different (p ≤ 0.05) between archers and shooters. In conclusion, this study may conclude that all the NDUM’s precision athlete have a similar anthropometric characteristic, body fat percentage (%), muscle mass (kg), bone mass (kg), total body water (%) and handgrip strength except the visceral fat level.