Matteo Campagna
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Elite archers supported by a nutrition professional are slimmer and train more

1 study · 51 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20262026, for, n = 512026, context, n = 51
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

A single study, a 2026 questionnaire on fifty-one elite archers from twenty-two countries, and a picture that recurs with every form of support. Those with access to a sports nutritionist have a narrower waist, 74.6 against 83.8 cm, and train 5.3 hours a day against 3.4; those whose federation looks after their nutrition weigh 65 kg against 76, have a body mass index of 22.0 against 25.5 and train 6.6 hours a day against 3.4; the same picture recurs, wholly or in part, with advice from a qualified professional, a personalised plan and a diet checked by an expert. The differences are large, but they say little about why. Someone training six hours a day is probably in a federation programme that also provides the nutritionist, and across the sample as a whole those who train more days a week are also lighter. Weight, height and waist are reported by the archers themselves. What can be said is that support, training volume and build go together; which drives which cannot be read from these data.

Also phrased as: "nutritionist and body composition in archers"; "archers supported by a nutritionist"; "diet and training hours"; "elite archers' body weight"; "waist size and archery"

In practice

In archery build is seen as of little importance, and a nutritionist, where there is one, tends to arrive with a national squad call-up rather than as the archer's own choice.

Evidence

  • 2026
    For Archers Published later

    51 elite archers from 22 countries: those with access to a sports nutritionist (47.1%) have a narrower waist, 74.64 against 83.82 cm (p = 0.028, d = 0.63), and train 5.25 against 3.41 hours a day (p < 0.001, d = 0.99) and 5.46 against 4.70 days a week (p = 0.028).

    Relationships between nutrition, training frequency, and anthropometric characteristics in elite archers · Natalija Uršulin-Trstenjak, Amanda Mlinarić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Dodlek Šarkanj, Ivana Herak, Manuela Filipec

  • 2026
    For Archers Published later

    Those whose federation takes care of their nutrition (27%) weigh 65.21 against 75.90 kg (p = 0.018), have a body mass index of 22.04 against 25.52 (p = 0.004) and a waist of 70.43 against 82.93 cm (p = 0.006), and train 6.64 against 3.38 hours a day (p < 0.001, d = 2.24).

    Relationships between nutrition, training frequency, and anthropometric characteristics in elite archers · Natalija Uršulin-Trstenjak, Amanda Mlinarić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Dodlek Šarkanj, Ivana Herak, Manuela Filipec

  • 2026
    For Archers Published later

    The same picture with the other forms of support. Advice from a qualified professional: body mass index 22.93 against 25.54 (p = 0.024) and 5.95 against 3.28 hours a day (p < 0.001). Personalised plan: 5.39 against 3.36 hours (p < 0.001). Diet checked by an expert: 66.14 against 75.55 kg, body mass index 22.24 against 25.44 (p = 0.010), 6.57 against 3.41 hours (p < 0.001).

    Relationships between nutrition, training frequency, and anthropometric characteristics in elite archers · Natalija Uršulin-Trstenjak, Amanda Mlinarić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Dodlek Šarkanj, Ivana Herak, Manuela Filipec

  • 2026
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same sample, regardless of support, those who train more days a week weigh less (r = -0.31, p = 0.029), have a lower body mass index (r = -0.29, p = 0.038) and a narrower waist (r = -0.36, p = 0.008): training volume on its own already goes with a slimmer build. Weight, height and waist are self-reported.

    Relationships between nutrition, training frequency, and anthropometric characteristics in elite archers · Natalija Uršulin-Trstenjak, Amanda Mlinarić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Dodlek Šarkanj, Ivana Herak, Manuela Filipec

Status history

  1. 1990 Not studied Nothing in the registry's bibliography had yet compared archers supported by a nutrition professional with those who are not, either on build or on training hours: the question had not been asked.
  2. 2026 Reported Fifty-one elite archers from twenty-two countries answer a questionnaire, and for the first time those who receive nutrition support are compared with those who do not. Those with access to a sports nutritionist have a narrower waist, 74.6 against 83.8 cm, and train 5.3 hours a day against 3.4; those whose federation looks after their nutrition weigh 65 kg against 76, have a body mass index of 22.0 against 25.5 and train 6.6 hours against 3.4; the same picture recurs with advice from a qualified professional, a personalised plan and a checked diet. It is a single cross-sectional study with self-reported measures, in which support and training volume arrive together: reported, as an association.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.

See the work with clubs and federations
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Elite archers supported by a nutrition professional are slimmer and train more (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/archers-nutritionist-body-composition-training

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_nutrizionistaallenamentocomposizione,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Elite archers supported by a nutrition professional are slimmer and train more},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/archers-nutritionist-body-composition-training},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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