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Differentiating maturational influence on training‐induced strength and endurance adaptations in prepubescent children
Author(s) -
Marta Carlos C.,
Marinho Daniel A.,
Izquierdo Mikel,
Marques Mário C.
Publication year - 2014
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.22549
Subject(s) - hum , endurance training , strength training , medicine , physical therapy , affect (linguistics) , training (meteorology) , psychology , communication , art , performance art , art history , physics , meteorology
ABSTRACT Objective To analyze the effect of biological maturation on training‐induced strength and endurance adaptations in the prepubertal growth spurt. Methods One hundred and twenty‐five healthy children (58 boys, 67 girls), aged 10–11 years old (10.8 ± 0.4 years), who were self‐assessed as belonging to Tanner stages I and II, were randomly divided into two experimental groups, a strength training group (19 boys, 22 girls) and an endurance training group (21 boys, 24 girls) that would train twice a week for 8 weeks, as well as a control group (18 boys, 21 girls; no training program). Results After 8 weeks of training, there were improvements in all strength and endurance measures ( P < 0.01) for both groups of Tanner stage I and II children. No significant differences in training response were observed relative to biological maturity or gender ( P > 0.05). Conclusions These data suggest that more biologically mature prepubescent children seem to have no advantage in training‐induced strength and endurance adaptations compared with their less mature peers. Additionally, gender did not affect the training‐induced changes in strength or aerobic fitness. These results are meaningful for the development of optimized well‐rounded training programs in prepubertal children. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 26:469–475, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.