Women's rugby seven in south-central Chile: association between explosive strength, speed, agility and nutritional status

Abstract

Research in rugby seven considers demands during the game, anthropometry and physical fitness. In Chile this sport is non-professional. The aim was to evaluate the possible differences between performance in physical tests and anthropometric characteristics, and to associate this performance with the nutritional status in rugby seven players from south-central Chile. 38 adult players from three non-professional teams participated, anthropometric characteristics was measured with scale and stadiometer, vertical jump test with jumping mat, speed and agility with photocells in field tests. One-way ANOVA and effect size were used to compare the three teams, and the association was determined with linear regression using the beta coefficient. The STATA v.14 program was used (p < .05). There were differences between the three teams in the countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), 30-meter sprint, and Illinois agility test (p < .05) with generally high effect sizes, and differences in the body mass index (BMI) (p = .015) with low, moderate, and high effect sizes. When there was a higher BMI, there were less probabilities of increasing performance in CMJ, SJ, 30-meter speed and agility, and when adjusting for confounding variables, these probabilities were lower (p < .05). Given the differences in jumping, speed and agility, and the inverse relationship of these with the BMI, it is suggested to maintain a level of preparation that allows improving the performance of women's rugby seven in the area.