Anthropometrical and sport constitutional comparison of German male soccer players and male students of sports sciences

  • Cengiz Dogan Institute of Sports Science, Julius Maximilians University, Germany
  • Christoph Raschka Institute of Sports Science, Julius Maximilians University, Germany
Keywords: soccer players, sport students, anthropometric measurements, constitutional body types


The aim of the present study was to figure out differences between the body compositions of German soccer players and the students of sports sciences from Hessen (Germany). For this purpose 30 soccer players and40 sports students were anthropometrically examined. The collective of the students majoring in physical education had the function as a reference group. Both groups were divided into “experienced” and “less experienced” athletes. The soccer players were recruited from two different Hessian leagues, the players from the higher league were classified as “experienced” athletes and the players of the lower league were defined as “less experienced” football players. The reference group of sports students was also separated into “experienced” and “less experienced” groups. The participants who did workout for more than 10 hours a week, were categorized as “experienced” and the athletes who trained less than 10 hours a week were recorded as “less experienced”. In general the students of sports sciences were involved in different sports like ball sports, martial arts, athletics and strengths events. The measurements were taken under standardised conditions by the authors of this work and the results were analysed statistically (ANOVA). To analyse differences the skin fold measures, the Body-Mass-Index (BMI) and the AKS-Index (Lean-Body-Mass) were used. The comparison of the groups is based on the methods of German and Anglo-American schools of constitutional biology. The exact defined landmarks after Conrad, Knussmann, Parnell and Heath & Carter were used to calculate the body constitution of the different groups and athletes.The soccer players of the present study had an average body height of 178.8 cm +/– 6.0 cm and an average body weight of 71.9 kg. In comparison to the soccer players, the athletes of the reference group are taller and heavier. The average height of the students of sports sciences was 183 cm +/– 5.1 cm and they had an average weight of 80.2 kg. Nearly all the height and longitudinal dimensions of the reference group were significantly higher than in the group of soccer players. Depending on the performance level of both groups, there were no significant differences found.


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