A COMPARISON OF WEIGHT LOSS, BODY COMPOSITION AND SOME MINERAL LEVELS BEFORE COMPETITION IN ELITE WRESTLERS

The aim of this study is to determine the difference between body compositions and some mineral levels of elite wrestlers (at an international level) who have loss of weight and who have not loss of weight. 69 volunteer elite wrestlers involving in Turkey Championship participated in this study. The wrestler who had loss of weight and who had not loss of weight in order to compete in their weight class before the championship are randomly chosen and at the time of race weighing, an information form including demographic information, Tanita BC 418, bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BİA) with USA brand, body compositions and 5 cc of blood from their forearm venous with vacutainer (closed blood collection system) are received from wrestlers who participated in the study. The blood samples are divided into serums by centrifuged at 4000 rpm in 5 minutes by using NF-400 model centrifuge device with Nüve brand. Whether the wrestlers have loss of weight or not is calculated with a formula after their Sodium (Na+ ), Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and Glucose levels are analyzed and they are separated into two groups according to their Plasma Osmolarity (POsm) levels. The wrestlers whose POsm level ?290 are discussed as the group not having loss of weight and the wrestler whose POsm level >290 are discussed as the group having loss of weight. The information about the amount of loss of weight that they have before a race as a demographic variable is received from the sportsmen participating in this study. The basal metabolic rate, percentage of body fat, fat mass, free fat mass, total body water was determined with BİA. In the blood samples; Na+ , BUN, Glucose, Iron (Fe), Calcium (Ca), Potassium (K) and Chlorine (Cl) levels are measured by using kits with brand of Beckman Coulter in the AU2700 Plus model biochemical auto analyzer with brand of Beckman Coulter and Vitamin B12 and insulin levels are measured by using kits with brand of Roche in the Cobas E601 model hormone auto analyzer with brand of Roche Hitachi. Testing of normality of the data obtained is carried by Shapiro Wilk Test and the relations among the variables with normal distribution are examined with correlation analysis. Independent Samples T Test for two groups while one way variance analysis (One Way ANOVA) was used for the groups more than two groups. Also; in order to determine what caused the differences obtained as the result of variance analysis; LSD test, which is one of the multiple comparison tests, was used. It is determined that there are not statistically significant differences among demographic variables (age, height, weight and body mass index) of the group that has loss of weight and the one that have not (p>0,05). When the body compositions are compared, statistically significant differences between free fat mass and total body water is determined (p < 0,05) and it is found that there is not any significant difference among basal metabolic rate, percentage of body fat and fat mass (p >0,05). When the difference of mineral levels of groups is examined, there is statistically significant difference in the BUN, Na+ and POsm levels (p<0,05) and there is not any statistically significant difference among the Glucose, Fe, Ca, K, Cl, Vitamin B12 and Insulin levels (p>0,05). In conclusion, it was found that the wrestlers who have weight loss increased total body water and free fat mass levels and therefore, BUN, Na+ and POsm levels increased.