Age- and gender-related differences in explosive leg muscle function with respect to jump tests used: a comparative...

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Human Movement Science
• Sports Science

Background:

• Assessing explosive leg strength involves various methods, but age-related variations and interrelationships between jump test variables are not well understood.
• Understanding how different jump tests reveal gender differences in performance across developmental stages is crucial.
• The relationship between leg stiffness and jump performance variables across different age groups requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age- and gender-related differences in jump performance using various tests.
• To examine the interrelationships between different jump performance variables.
• To explore the association between leg stiffness and jump performance metrics across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Main Methods:

• 447 non-athlete females and males aged 7-24 years were grouped into childhood (7-12), adolescence (13-18), and emerging adulthood (19-24).
• Participants performed squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ), and 10-s repeated jumps (RJs).
• Analyzed variables included jump height, pre-stretch augmentation (PSA), eccentric utilization ratio (EUR), reactive strength index (RSI), take-off power, and leg stiffness.

Main Results:

• Jump performance generally increased with age in males, and in females until adolescence, with slight increases thereafter.
• Significant gender differences in RSI, SJ and CMJ height, and RJs take-off power emerged from early adolescence.
• Relative leg stiffness strongly correlated with RSI in adolescents and adults, but weakly in children; correlations with PSA were found in adolescents and adults.

Conclusions:

• Jump performance exhibits significant gender-based differences from early adolescence, contingent on the assessment method.
• Relative leg stiffness is a key factor in reactive jump capacity for adolescents and adults.
• The association between leg stiffness and musculotendinous elasticity during jumps is less pronounced in these age groups.