Rauter Samo, Simenko Jozef
Faculty for Sport, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Essex Pathways Department, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
Biology (Basel). 2021 Nov 18;10(11):1199. doi: 10.3390/biology10111199.
The aims of this study are: (1) to identify morphological asymmetries in road cycling by using a novel 3D scanning method and electrical bioimpedance, (2) to investigate possible asymmetries in road cyclists of low (LPG) and high (HPG) performance group, (3) to compare the number of morphological asymmetries between HPG and LPG of cyclists, and (4) to explore correlations between asymmetry scores and competition performance. Body composition and 3D anthropometric measurements were conducted on 48 top-level male road cyclists (178.98 ± 5.39 cm; 68.37 ± 5.31 kg) divided into high ( = 22) and low ( = 26) performance groups. Competition performance (CP) is represented through racing points gathered at the end of the competition season. The latter was used to divide road cyclists into low- and high-performing groups. One-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between groups, while paired-samples T-test and Absolute Asymmetry index (AA) were calculated ( ≤ 0.05) for paired variables inside the groups, and the Spearman correlation coefficient was used to explore correlations between AA and CP. Results showed statistically significant differences between the left and right side of different body segments (16 paired variables) among low-performing road cyclists in five paired variables of the upper body: elbow girth (4.35, = 0.000), forearm girth (6.31, = 0.000), arm surface area (2.54, = 0.018), and arm volume (2.71, = 0.012); and six paired variables of the lower body: leg lean mass (5.85, = 0.000), leg length (3.04, = 0.005), knee girth (4.93, = 0.000), calf girth (5.25, = 0.000), leg surface area (4.03, = 0.000), and leg volume (5.3, = 0.000). Altogether, the high-performing group of road cyclists statistically differed only in 2 out of 16 paired variables of the upper body: elbow girth (4.93, = 0.000) and in forearm girth (5.12, = 0.000). Low- and high-performing groups were statistically significantly different in the asymmetry of leg lean mass (1,46) = 6.25, = 0.016 and asymmetry of the calf girth (1,46) = 7.44, = 0.009. AA of calf girth on the total sample ( = 48) showed a significant correlation with CP ( = -0.461; = 0.001). In conclusion, the study's main finding was that high-performance road cyclists are more symmetrical than the low-performance group, for which it is significant to have a higher amount of morphological asymmetries.
（1）通过使用一种新型的3D扫描方法和生物电阻抗技术来识别公路自行车骑行中的形态不对称性；（2）调查低水平（LPG）和高水平（HPG）表现组的公路自行车运动员中可能存在的不对称性；（3）比较自行车运动员HPG和LPG之间形态不对称性的数量；（4）探索不对称性得分与比赛成绩之间的相关性。对48名顶级男性公路自行车运动员（身高178.98±5.39厘米；体重68.37±5.31千克）进行了身体成分和3D人体测量，这些运动员被分为高水平组（n = 22）和低水平组（n = 26）。比赛成绩（CP）通过比赛赛季结束时获得的比赛积分来表示。后者被用于将公路自行车运动员分为低水平和高水平表现组。使用单因素方差分析来确定组间差异，同时对组内的配对变量计算配对样本T检验和绝对不对称指数（AA）（p≤0.05），并使用斯皮尔曼相关系数来探索AA与CP之间的相关性。结果显示，在低水平公路自行车运动员中，不同身体部位的左右两侧（16个配对变量）在五个上半身配对变量中存在统计学显著差异：肘围（4.35，p = 0.000）、前臂围（6.31，p = 0.000）、手臂表面积（2.54，p = 0.018）和手臂体积（2.71，p = 0.012）；以及下半身的六个配对变量：腿部瘦体重（5.85，p = 0.000）、腿长（3.04，p = 0.005）、膝围（4.93，p = 0.000）、小腿围（5.25，p = 0.000）、腿部表面积（4.03，p = 0.000）和腿部体积（5.3，p = 0.000）。总体而言，高水平公路自行车运动员组在上半身16个配对变量中仅在2个变量上存在统计学差异：肘围（4.93，p = 0.000）和前臂围（5.12，p = 0.000）。低水平和高水平表现组在腿部瘦体重不对称性（F(1,46)=6.25，p = 0.016）和小腿围不对称性（F(1,46)=7.44，p = 0.009）方面存在统计学显著差异。总样本（n = 48）的小腿围AA与CP显示出显著相关性（r = -0.461；p = 0.001）。总之，该研究的主要发现是，高水平公路自行车运动员比低水平组更具对称性，低水平组存在更多的形态不对称性，这一点具有重要意义。
