Sportsanthropometric and performance parameters of elite rock ‘n’ roll dancers

Abstract

Rock ‘n’ roll dancing is one of the technical compositional sports. The current state of scientific knowledge on it can be described as minimal. To change this state, the first sports science survey regarding squad training was conducted under the guidance of the authors at the Austrian national rock ‘n’ roll team. The study group consisted of 26 A, B and C level athletes in the sport of rock ‘n’ roll acrobatics. The mean BMI of the male athletes with the mean age of 23.0 years was 23.3 kg/m2. The female subjects’ mean age was 19.5 years and their mean BMI 19.8 kg/m2. The bounce values of the men were as follows: squat jump (SQJ) 37.1 cm and counter- movement jump (CMJ) 41.9 cm. Men’s mean result in long jump was 256.0 cm. The women had a lower mean bounce of 25.8 cm and 27.2 cm in SQJ and CMJ respectively. Their mean length of the long jump was 204.6 cm. The anthropometric data showed that the male subjects’ mean body height was 1.81 m and weight 76.2 kg. The BIA measurement yielded a value of 15.8% body fat. The women’s mean height was 1.64 m and percentage of passive body substance 23.5%; their mean weight was 53.4 kg. The waist/hip ratio was 0.9 in both men and women. The Broca index was 1.2% in women and 6% in men. The AKS-index reached 1.02 in men and 0.91 in women. Data were collected to determine the one-repetition maximum (1RM) of the upper and lower extremities: lat pulldowns (m: 76.9 kg; w: 39.4 kg), rowing (m: 58.1 kg; w: 31.9 kg), bench press (m: 75.0 kg; w: 33.8 kg) and knee flexion (90°) (m: 82.1 kg; w: 44.7 kg). The result of the sit and reach test was 7.8 cm for male subjects and 16.2 cm for female athletes.