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Ability to gain muscular strength in children, adolescents increased with age
Behringer M. Pediatrics. 2010;doi:10.1542/peds.2010-0445.
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Resistance training was effective in children and adolescents, according to a study published in Pediatrics. In addition, the ability to gain muscular strength appeared to increase with age and maturational status.
Researchers from the Institute of Training Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University Cologne, Germany, conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether age and maturity had an effect on trainability and muscle strength in children and adolescents.
“Although resistance training in children was a much debated issue within the last three decades, the majority of recent literature delineates that it is effective and safe in all phases of maturity if qualified supervision, age appropriate program design and gradual progression are used,” the researchers wrote. “However, only little is known about the impact of age and maturity on training-induced strength gains during childhood and youth.”
The meta-analysis included 42 studies and 1,728 participants. The effects of resistance training on muscle strength were evaluated by two reviewers. The groups they reviewed were prepubertal children, postpubertal children and adolescents.
Besides the ability to gain muscle strength, the researchers found that the duration of the study and the number of sets performed had a positive effect on the outcome. Although it was hypothesized that trainability would increase sharply with the onset of puberty due to the increases in sex hormones, the researchers found that there was no trainability boost during puberty.
“The implementation of strength-training programs should not be limited to postpubertal subjects, in concordance with the recently published updated position of the National Strength and Conditioning Association,” the researchers wrote. “There is no minimum age requirement for beginning a resistance-training program, provided that subjects are mentally and physically ready to comply with trainer instructions.”
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