Body composition assessment in athletes: a systematic review

Body composition represents an unbreakable unity of the human body basic structure elements and involves a relative representation of the various constituent elements of the human total body weight. It is well known that body composition changes under the influence of continuous physical activity, and, therefore, it is one of the major components of fitness, and general health of the athletes. Therefore, this topic has become a major field of interest for many exercise and sport scientists as well as clinicians who specialize not only in different training methods but also in the prevention of and rehabilitation from major injuries. To date, having considered issues of accuracy, repeatability and utility, there is no universally applicable criterion or 'gold standard' methodology for body composition assessment in athletes. The main objective of this review was to give a short overview of methods for body composition analysis in athletes and to show and compare the latest data on their usefulness and reliability in order to find the best solution for practical everyday work.