title: Assessing muscular strength in youth: usefulness of standing long jump as a general index of muscular fitness.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the association among different measures of lower body muscular strength in children, and the association between measures of lower- and upper-body muscular strength. The study population comprises 94 (45 girls) healthy Caucasian children aged 6-17 years. Children performed several lower body explosive muscular strength tests (i.e., standing long jump [SLJ], vertical jump, squat jump, and countermovement jump) and upper body muscular strength tests (i.e., throw basketball, push-ups, and isometric strength exercises). The association among the study tests was analyzed by multiple regression. The SLJ was strongly associated with other lower body muscular strength tests (R = 0.829-0.864), and with upper body muscular strength tests (R = 0.694-0.851). The SLJ test might be therefore considered a general index of muscular fitness in youth. The SLJ test is practical, time efficient, and low in cost and equipment requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education, School of Education, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain. lwjudge@bsu.edu
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Piñero
authors.forename: Francisco B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Enrique G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Artero
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Girela-Rejón
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjöström
authors.forename: Jonatan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000502:physiology