NEW YORK - Playing big during an NFL career has advantages for certain positions. For instance, offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers, and tight ends leverage their larger size (height and weight), strength, and speed during blocking and tackling - delivering powerful blows to their opponent.
Prior research, however, has proven that these big guys are at a higher risk to coronary heart disease (CHD), high blood pressure (HBP), and diabetes - metabolic syndrome - if their waist measurement exceeds 40 inches, with the highest risk above 50 inches.
Association Between BMI (body mass index) Change and Cardiometabolic Risk in Retired Football Players - which appears in the April issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise - notes that a, "High prevalence of the components of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors associated with cardiometabolic diseases, has been identified in active football players at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels.