Functional Basis of Asymmetrical Lower-Body Skeletal Morphology in Professional Australian Rules Footballers

Hart, NH, Newton, RU, Weber, J, Spiteri, T, Rantalainen, T, Dobbin, M, Chivers, P, and Nimphius, S. Functional basis of asymmetrical lower-body skeletal morphology in elite Australian footballers. J Strength Cond Res 34(3): 791–799, 2020—Bone strength is a product of its material and structural properties and is highly responsive to mechanical load. Given the measureable and adaptable features of bone, and thus relevance to medical screening, injury prevention, and injury management in athletes, this study describes the lower-body skeletal morphology of professional Australian rules footballers. Using a cross-sectional and quantitative study design, 54 professional Australian rules football players (n = 54; age: 22.4 ± 3.8 years; height: 189.0 ± 7.5 cm; body mass: 86.0 ± 8.6 kg; tibial length: 436.1 ± 29.2 mm; and body fat: 9.9 ± 1.7%) underwent tibiofibular peripheral quantitative computed tomography scans for the kicking and support limbs, and a whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. The support leg was significantly stronger than the kicking leg (bone strength: p ≤ 0.001; d = 0.47) with significantly greater bone mass (p
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research