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Comparison of peak muscle power between Brazilian and French girls
Author(s) -
Nanci Maria França,
Eric Doré,
Mario Bedu,
Emmanuel Van Praagh
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.10046
Subject(s) - anthropometry , sprint , demography , psychology , cycling , physical therapy , medicine , geography , archaeology , sociology
This study examined the muscle power of Brazilian circumpubertal girls and extended the analysis to a cross‐cultural dimension. A total of 462 children, 123 Brazilian girls and 339 French girls, 9–18 years, participated in this investigation. Anthropometric data included body mass (BM), height, skinfold thicknesses, and estimated lean leg volume (LLV). All subjects completed a physical activity questionnaire. Cycling peak power was measured including the flywheel inertia of the device (CPP i ). Brazilian girls self‐assessed their maturation using pubic hair development. CPP i and optimal velocity (v opt = velocity at CPP i ) increased with stages of puberty. A multiple stepwise regression with anthropometric variables as explanatory factors showed only LLV and age explaining the variance of CPP i (R 2 = 0.40, P < 0.001). Therefore, 60% of the variance of CPP i in Brazilian girls was related to undetermined qualitative individual factors, which may be related to cycling skill. Even when normalized for anthropometric variables, the anaerobic performance (CPP i and v opt ) of Brazilian girls was significantly lower than a cohort of French girls. The latter demonstrated a high participation in sport and training activities, while 50% of the Brazilian girls had only physical education classes in the form of regular physical activity. Moreover, most of the Brazilian girls demonstrated an ineffective sprint cycling skill. The data suggest that motor learning is an important issue in muscle power assessment and might, therefore, partially explain peak power differences in Brazilian compared with French girls. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:364–371, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.