Performance of 11 and 12 year-old boys on an all-out 90-second cycling test
Date
1991
Authors
Cicchine, Richard Nicholas
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to describe the anaerobic capabilities of 11- and 12 -year-old boys (N=20) on an all-out 90 s cycle ergometer test by comparing their performance to that of a group of active men (N=19). Performance on the 90 s cycle ergometer test was separated into four components: anaerobic alactic power (AAP) and capacity (AAC) (0-10 s), and anaerobic lactic power (ALP) and capacity (ALC) (10-90 s). Each measure was expressed in absolute terms and expressed relative to body weight.
Anaerobic performance was correlated to height, weight, sum of skinfolds, and thigh volume. Post-exercise blood lactate (BL), maximum heart rate (MHR), VO2 max, and percent (%) drop-off of power output (Watts) were also measured. Blood lactate values at both 2 min (BL-2) and 5 min (BL-5) post-exercise were significantly (p<0.001) higher for the men than for the boys. Values at BL-2 were 13.5 mmol·l-1 (3.4) for men and 9.1 mmol·l-1-1 (1.7) for boys. Values at BL-5 were 12.5 mmol·l-1 (2.8) and 8.3 mmnol·1-1 (1.6) for men and boys respectively. No difference was found in reative V02 max (ml·kg·min-1). Significant differences (p<0.001) in MHR and absolute VO2 max (l·min-1) were observed between boys and men.
Absolute and relative values for all four components of the 90 s test were significantly higher (p<0.001) in the adult group. Compared to the men, the absolute values of the boys for MP, MC, ALP, and ALC were 33.2%, 32.3%, 33.6%, and 40.5% of the values for the men, respectively. However, compared to the men, the relative values of the boys for MP, MC, ALP, and ALC were 65.2%, 63.1%, 65.4%, and 79.2% of the values attained by the men, respectively. The % drop-off in absolute and relative power output from 0-90 s was significantly greater (p<0.05) for the men (50.4% and 50.4%) than the boys (41.3% and 41.4%) respectively.
Body size, particularly weight, was strongly related to anaerobic performance in boys and men. Correlation coefficients greater than 0.85 were found between body weight and performance on three of the four anaerobic measures (AAP-r=0.91, ALP-r=0.90 and ALC-r=0.86) for the boys. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that weight accounted for 82%, 81%, and 74% of the variance for MP, ALP, and ALC respectively. When MC was the dependent variable, thigh volume was the first predictor and accounted for 39% of the variance. For the men weight showed a moderate to strong correlation with AAP (r=0.82), AAC(r=0.84), ALP(r=0.82), and ALC(r=0.74) and produced R2 values of 0.67, 0.70, 0.68, and 0.54 respectively.
An intercorrelational matrix showed a strong within performance relationship on all four absolute anaerobic measures in both groups (r=0.65 to 0.98 for boys and 0.76 to 0.99 for men). Relative measures of anaerobic performance were moderately to highly correlated with AAP, AAC, and ALP for both groups (r=0.65 to 0.88 for boys and 0.76 to 0.97 for men). The r values were low than the relative values for both groups, and weight was the strongest anthropometric predictor of anaerobic performance for both boys and men.