No Changes in Body Composition in NCAA Division I Collegiate Football Players because of COVID-19 Restrictions

Abstract Czeck, MA, Roelofs, EJ, Evanoff, NG, and Dengel, DR. No Changes in body composition in NCAA Division I Collegiate Football Players due to COVID-19 restrictions. J Strength Cond Res 36(6): 1749–1752, 2022—The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions on body composition, assessed by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), between the 2020 postseason (pre–COVID-19 restrictions) and the 2021 postseason (post–COVID-19 restrictions) in collegiate football players (n = 50). In addition, a subset of athletes (n = 23) was used to explore body composition variables across 4 postseason time points. Body composition variables assessed were total and regional body fat percent, total mass, lean mass, fat mass, bone mineral content, bone mineral density, and visceral adipose tissue mass. Paired t-tests were used to determine differences between the 2020 postseason and the 2021 postseason in body composition variables. Analysis of variance with Tukey HSD post hoc tests assessed significant differences in total and regional body composition across 4 years while adjusting for multiple comparisons. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between postseason 2020 and postseason 2021 for all measures of body composition. In a subset of athletes, body composition was analyzed over a 4-year period of time. There were no significant differences between all 4 time points for all measures of body composition. In conclusion, body composition variables in this study's subjects were not affected because of coronavirus disease 2019 restrictions or over 4 years of their collegiate football career.