Circus Student-Artists Anthropometric characterization; Preliminary study

Abstract: The purpose of our study was to establish a circus student-artist anthropometric characterization allowing for their classification among the different activities or sports discipline and to know if they present specific morphological adaptations due to their practices. Methods: Thirty healthy adults (13 women and 17 men, 22.5±2 years, 170.1±6.4 cm, 64.5±7.5 kg) participated voluntarily in this study. These student-artists were divided into two groups: 15 aerials (dangling trapeze, stated trapeze, outfielders, Chinese mast, aerial fabrics, aerial webbing, smooth rope, and flying rope) and 15 non-aerials (banquine, bascule, carried acrobatic, cyr wheel, acrobatics, and acrobatic juggling). Biometric measurements of all body segments were collected. Results: There was a significant difference in body anthropometric measurements between the two groups (height, arm span and waistline). Non-aerials were characterized by a slightly prominent vertical development of the skeletal frame and showed a mesomorphic-ectomorphic somatotype, while the aerials presented a balanced mesomorphic type. Conclusion: The circassians showed an anthropometric adaptation according to their activity types but in general, and all activities combined, they remain smaller than the average man. This could be an anthropometric feature to meet the specific functional requirements of this activities type.