Title
Physical fitness spurts in childhood: A study in boys
Date Issued
01 April 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Pereira S.
Garbeloto F.
Guimarães E.
Santos C.
Baxter-Jones A.
Tani G.
Freitas D.
Katzmarzyk P.T.
Maia J.
Universidad Nacional de Educación Enrique Guzmán y Valle
Publisher(s)
Blackwell Munksgaard
Abstract
This study aimed to (1) estimate age-at-mid-growth spurt (age-at-MGS) in Portuguese boys from two different regions—the Azores islands and Viana do Castelo, and (2) identify spurts in a variety of physical fitness (PF) components aligned by age-at-MGS in the two samples. A total of 176 (Azores, n = 91; Viana do Castelo, n = 85) boys aged 6 years old were followed annually to 10 years of age. Age-at-MGS and spurts in PF components (speed, explosive muscular strength, abdominal muscular strength, agility, and flexibility) were identified for each sample. The timing and intensities of the spurts were estimated using a non-smooth mathematical procedure. In Azorean boys, age-at-MGS occurred at 7.8 years (6.99 cm y−1), whereas in Viana do Castelo it occurred at 7.9 years (6.20 cm y−1). Spurt in speed was attained 12 months after the MGS in both samples (0.53 and 0.35 cm y−1 in Azores and Viana do Castelo, respectively), whereas spurts in explosive muscular strength and flexibility occurred 12 months before the MGS and at the MGS (Azores: 21.59 and 5.52 cm y−1 and Viana do Castelo: 14.12 and 2.5 cm y−1, respectively). Agility and abdominal muscular strength peaked between 0 and 12 months after the MGS (Viana do Castelo: 0.37 m s−1 y−1 and 6.71 reps y−1 and Azores: 0.28 m s−1 y−1 and 19.36 reps y−1, respectively). Results indicate that developmental spurts in explosive strength and flexibility occur before, or are coincident with, the mid-growth spurt in height, whereas spurts in speed, agility, and abdominal muscular strength occur after, or coincident with, the mid-growth spurt in height.
Start page
47
End page
55
Volume
31
Issue
S1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias del deporte y la aptitud física Ciencias de la educación
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85104506657
PubMed ID
Source
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports
ISSN of the container
09057188
Sponsor(s)
We thank all children, school teachers and parents for their participation. Further, in the Azorean study we acknowledge the support from the Azorean Regional Department of Physical Education and Sport, and in the Viana do Castelo study the support from the City Hall. Additionally, we thank Dr Luis Paulo Rodrigues for making the Viana do Castelo data available to us, and we express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions that substantially improved the paper. Finally, this report is dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Gaston Beunen, Katholieke Universitei Leuven.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus