Seasonal changes in body composition of inter-county Gaelic Athletic Association hurlers

Longitudinal change in body composition for elite-level inter-county hurlers was reported over a single season and four consecutive seasons. Body composition measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of 66 senior, male, outfield players was obtained. Four successive measurements were taken: off-season (OFF1), pre-season (PRE), mid-season (MID) and the off-season of the following season (OFF2). A subsample of 11 hurlers were measured at all time points over 4 consecutive seasons. DXA-derived estimates of fat and lean mass were normalised to stature for analysis (kg . m(2)); data are (mean [ lower: upper, 95% confidence interval]). A concurrent increase of lean mass (0.31 [ 0.19: 0.43] kg . m(2)) and loss of fat mass occurred (-0.38 [-0.50: -0.26] kg . m(2)) OFF1 to PRE. Lean mass accrual was maintained PRE to OFF2 while the initial loss of fat mass was restored MID to OFF2 (0.52 [ 0.40: 0.64] kg . m(2)), with the trunk acting as the primary region of change. Over the four seasons, a net increase of lean mass was observed (similar to 0.9 [0.4: 1.4] kg per annum) with a negligible overall change for fat mass over time. However, the cycling of fat mass (OFF to PRE and MID to OFF) within each season was recurrent season-to-season.