Antonio Molina-López; Heliodoro Moya-Amaya; Pedro Estevan-Navarro; Antonio Jesús Berral-Aguilar; Daniel Rojano-Ortega & Francisco José Berral-de la Rosa

The analysis and control of body composition is essential in soccer due to its implication in perfor- mance. The aim of this study was to identify, in professional soccer players, the phase angle (PhA) of the lower limbs with possible patterns of improvement of the lean component measured by DEXA. At the same time, the evolution of hydric parameters of the players, subjected to intense training and nutritional control of their diet and supplementation, was studied by means of BIA. Eighteen players (26.28 ± 5.1 years; 85.09 ± 9.16 kg; 185.5 ± 4.32 cm) from an Italian first division football team were evaluated. The study was conducted for four weeks, between 11th July (pre- test) and 11th August of 2021 (post-test). The intervention was carried out entirely in pre-season, with confinement in isolation or total bubble mode for prevention of COVID-19 infection, where a high percentage of the player's life was monitored, including factors such as diet, training and rest. Supplementation was based on antioxidants, multivitamins, minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids and two powdered products (one based on creatine, glutamine and leucine, and the other one, on essential amino acids). The players showed an improvement in PhA and in the lean component in the lower limbs, with a moderate correlation (r = 0.6). With regard to intracellular and extracellular water, it should be noted that, despite the high intensity of exercise during four weeks, these have remained constant without significant variations during the study period, indicating that there has not been a process of dehydration of the player.

KEY WORDS: Lean mass; BIA; DEXA; Performan- ce; Soccer.

MOLINA-LÓPEZ, A.; MOYA-AMAYA, H.; ESTEVAN-NA- VARRO, P.; BERRAL-AGUILAR, A. J.; ROJANO-ORTEGA, D. & BERRAL-DE LA ROSA, F. J. Changes in body composition and phase angle during pre-season in professional soccer players. Int. J. Morphol., 40(2):348-354, 2022.