Age And Gender Flashcards
Childhood
Refers to period of life before the development of secondary sex characteristics.
•There is a growing interest in youth resistance training
•it is important for S&C professionals to understand the fundamental principles of growth, maturation, and development.
•Essential for development of safe, effective programs
Adolescence
going to refer to period between childhood and adulthood. The term youth will be used to include both children and adolescence.
The growing child
Growth, development, & maturation are used to describe change to the body throughout life.
Growth= increase in body size or part
Development = progression from prenatal to adulthood
Maturation = process of maturing/becoming fully functional
Puberty = period of time when secondary sex characteristics develop
Chronological Age Vs. Biological Age
•Chronological age = Age in months or years
•Not accurate to use this method if defining maturation/development
•Varying rates of growth = substantial interindividual differences physically
•11-year-old girl may be taller and more physically skilled than an 11-year-old boy.
•Biological age = Development measured in terms of skeletal age, physical maturity, or sexual maturation
•Two children may have same chronological age but differ by several years in biological age
A group of 14-year-old children can have a height difference as great as 9 inches (23 cm) and a weight difference up to 40 pounds
The onset of puberty can vary from 8 to 13 years in girls and from 9 to 15 years in boys, with girls typically beginning puberty approximately two years before boys
In girls the onset of menstruation (menarche) is a marker of sexual maturation, whereas in boys the closest indicators of sexual maturity include the appearance of pubic hair, facial hair, and deepening of the voice.
Maturity Assessment
Important because it can be used to
Assess growth and development patterns
Ensure children are fairly matched for fitness testing and competition.
No evidence that physical training delays or accelerates growth or maturation in girls and boys
Bone growth benefits with weight bearing activities
Skeletal remodeling and growth
Skeletal age = gold standard for getting biological age/maturity
Its expensive, require specialist/equipment
Practical Method to Assess Biological Age
•The most realistic and feasible means of estimating biological age is from somatic assessments.
•Somatic age reflects the degree of growth in overall stature or smaller, sub-dimensions of the body (e.g., limb length).
•Techniques available to the practitioner include:
•Longitudinal growth curve analysis
•Percentages and prediction of final adult height
•Prediction of age from peak height velocity
•Also important to assess training age
•Length of time a child has consistently followed a formal RT program
Must also consider technical competency
Muscle and Bone Growth
•Muscle mass steadily increases throughout the developing years.
•Increases in testosterone production in boys result in a marked increase in muscle mass and widening of the shoulders
•Peak muscle mass at 18-25 years old
•In girls an increase in estrogen production causes increased body fat deposition, breast development, and widening of the hips.
Peak muscle mass at 16-20 years old
Muscle mass in girls continues to increase during adolescence but at a slower rate than in boys due to hormonal differences.
Is muscle growth occurring due to hypertrophy or hyperplasia?
Hypertrophy
Muscular Strength & Nervous System
•Muscular strength expression effected by nervous system development
•Incomplete myelination of nerves leads to slower reactions and inability to perform skilled movements.
•Nervous system will continue to develop with age and children will see improvements in performance
•Better agility, balance, strength, and power
•Peak strength gains:
•Typically 1.2 years after peak height velocity in boys
•Typically .8 years after peak height velocity in girls
As muscle mass increases throughout preadolescence and adolescence, there is an increase in muscular strength.
although there is more individual variation in girls n the relationship of strength to height and body weight.
Resistance Training in Youth
Clinicians, coaches, and exercise scientists now agree that resistance exercise can be a safe and effective method of conditioning for children. Back in the 70s and 80s it was presumed RT was too risky for youth and could lead to injuries. Controversy around youth resistance training stemmed from the issues of whether or not they respond to RT. Early studies failed to observed increases in strength in preadolescents who participated in an RT program. It might have just been that changes in strength from growing can not really be distinguished from the changes that an RT program is initiating.
Intensity and volume of training is often to high for a child to take on.
When introducing children to resistance training activities, it is always better to underestimate their physical abilities and gradually increase the volume and intensity of training than to exceed their abilities and risk injury or long-term negative health outcomes.
-Neurological factors, as opposed to hypertrophic factors, are primarily responsible for these gains and response to detraining
Preadolescents appear to experience more difficulty increasing their muscle mass through a resistance training program due to inadequate levels of circulating hormones (testosterone, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor).
Neural improvements include increases in motor unit activation and synchronization, as well as enhanced motor unit recruitment and firing frequency
•Potential benefits
•Increases in muscular strength, power, and endurance
•Reduction in injuries in sport/activities
•Improvement in motor skills and performance
•Psychosocial benefits possible
•Improvements in body comp > childhood obesity
•Improvements in BMD
•Potential risks and concerns
Appropriately prescribed youth resistance training programs are relatively safe
Consideration the unique psychosocial needs of each individual child and then design, implement, and revise programs according to these needs. For example, a strength and conditioning professional needs to use different interpersonal skills to coach an inexperienced child with a low training age and low levels of self-confidence versus an experienced and highly competent adolescent who simply lacks motivation.
1-RM testing has been shown to be safe in children, provided that appropriate testing guidelines are followed. This includes and adequate warm-up period, appropriate progression of loads for an individual, and close spotting and supervision.
Injury risk?
•How can we reduce the risk of overuse injuries in youth?
•Youth coaches should implement well-planned recovery strategies.
•The nutritional status of young athletes should be monitored.
•Youth sport coaches should participate in educational programs.
•Boys and girls should be encouraged to participate in a variety of sports and activities.
What are the two important areas of concern in the development of youth resistance training programs?
Quality of instruction and Rate of progression.
Youth RT Guidelines
-Increase the resistance gradually (e.g., 5% to 10%) as strength improves.
Begin with light loads
Monitor each child’s tolerance to the exercise stress
-Depending on needs and goals, one to three sets of 6 to 15 repetitions on a variety of exercises can be performed.
-Advanced multi-joint exercises may be incorporated into the program if appropriate loads are used and the focus remains on proper form.
•Two or three nonconsecutive training sessions per week are recommended.
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•Adult spotters should be nearby to actively assist the child.
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The resistance training program should be systematically varied throughout the year.
Female athletes- sex differences
•Body Size & Composition
•Before puberty there are essentially no differences in height, weight, and body size between boys and girls.
•Adult women tend to have more body fat and less muscle and bone than adult males.
•Female athletes can have lower BF than an untrained male
•BF that’s too low can is associated with adverse health consequences
•Women tend to be lighter in total body weight than men.
•Strength & Power Output:
•In terms of absolute strength, women generally have about 2/3 the strength of men.
•Absolute power of LB closer to male values
•If comparisons are made relative to fat-free mass or muscle cross-sectional area, differences in strength between men and women tend to disappear.
•Power output follows the same trend as strength between males and females
*In terms of absolute strength, women are generally weaker than men because of their lower quantity of muscle.
Relative to muscle cross-sectional area, differences in strength are reduced between the sexes, which indicates that muscle quality is not sex specific.
Female athlete triad
•Refers to the interrelationships between energy availability, menstrual function, and bone mineral density
•A health risk for female athletes who trained for prolonged periods w/ insufficient caloric intake
•high training volumes/intensities with inadequate dietary intake
•Increases the risk for osteoporosis and amenorrhea (the absence of a menstrual cycle for more than three months)
•RT can help attenuate age-related declines in BMD
•Adequate dietary intake of calcium and Vitamin D
*Amenorrhea is defined as the absence of a menstrual cycle for more than three months and is caused by a reduced secretion frequency of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland.
Insufficient energy intake may simply be due to lack of hungry but it could also be attributed to a clinical eating disorder or disordered eating behaviors. Females at high risk of eating disorder are likely to be those involved in sports or activities that use subjective scoring based on aesthetics (ie dancing or gymnastics)
