Body composition data from over 900 DEXA scans on professional football players ⚽️
What the science says about pro footballers body composition.
Body composition characteristics of senior male players in the English Premier and Football Leagues: insights from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
Study Details
This new study compiled data from 343 pro mens football players from the Premier League and English Football League 🏆
With a total of 939 DEXA scans over a 10-year period 🩻
Here are the key trends and observations ⬇️
Key Findings
⚖️ Body fat typically ranged from 11.6% to 15.4%, showing that values above the commonly cited 10% threshold are normal in elite male footballers
🧤 Goalkeepers were the tallest and heaviest players and generally had the greatest bone mass, fat-free soft tissue mass, fat mass and body-fat percentage
🛡️ Central defenders also had greater body mass, bone mass and fat-free soft tissue mass than most other positions
💪 Forwards carried more fat-free soft tissue mass than central midfielders, wide midfielders and wide defenders
🏃 Central midfielders, wide midfielders and wide defenders displayed broadly similar, lighter body-composition profiles than goalkeepers and central defenders
🏆 Premier League players had lower fat mass and body-fat percentages than players in the Championship, League One and League Two
📉 Average body fat was 12.4% in Premier League players, compared with 13.2% in the Championship, 13.5% in League One and 14.3% in League Two
🧬 Black players were taller and heavier, with greater bone and fat-free mass but lower fat mass and body-fat percentages than White players
📈 Fat-free mass increased by approximately 0.9 kg from pre-season to mid-season and by 1.1 kg by the end of the season
📉 Fat mass decreased by approximately 0.5 kg from pre-season to the competitive season
Conclusion
Moderate increases in body mass during the season may reflect beneficial gains in fat-free tissue rather than unwanted fat gain ✅
Body-composition targets should be individualised according to…
📍 playing position
🏆 competition level
🌎 ethnicity
🗓️ seasonal phase
…rather than imposed uniformly across a squad.
Reference
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s44410-026-00028-8
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