title: Gender's Effect on a School-Based Intervention in The Prepubertal Growth Spurt.
abstract: Children aged 10-11 years pass through a dynamic developmental period marked by rapid changes in body size, shape, and composition, all of which are sexually dimorphic. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of gender on a school-based intervention in the prepubertal growth spurt. One hundred twenty-five healthy children (58 boys, 67 girls), fifth and sixth grade students from an urban public elementary school in Portugal (10.8 ± 0.4 years), were randomly assigned into two experimental groups: a strength training group (19 boys, 22 girls), and an endurance training group (21 boys, 24 girls); and a control group (18 boys, 21 girls; no training program). Training program for the two experimental groups was conducted twice a week for 8 weeks. Compared with the values at the beginning of the protocol, both strength and endurance training programs produced significant improvements (p< 0.05) in vertical and horizontal jumps, a 1 kg and 3 kg medicine ball throw, a 20 m sprint and VO2max, for both boys and girls. No significant changes were observed related to gender in training-induced strength (p> 0.05, η_p^2= 0.16, Power= 0.29) and aerobic (p> 0.05, η_p^2= 0.05, Power= 0.28) capacity. The results of the present study should be taken into consideration in order to optimize strength training school-based programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Guarda, Portugal). ; Research Unit for Inland Development (UDI, Portugal).
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marta
authors.affiliation: University of Beira Interior. Department of Sport Sciences (UBI, Covilhã, Portugal). ; Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD, Portugal).
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Guarda, Portugal). ; Research Unit for Inland Development (UDI, Portugal).
authors.forename: Natalina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Guarda, Portugal). ; Research Unit for Inland Development (UDI, Portugal).
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Guarda, Portugal). ; Research Unit for Inland Development (UDI, Portugal).
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vila-Chã
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Guarda, Portugal). ; Research Unit for Inland Development (UDI, Portugal).
authors.forename: Bernardete
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Public University of Navarre (Navarre, Spain).
authors.forename: Mikel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.affiliation: University of Beira Interior. Department of Sport Sciences (UBI, Covilhã, Portugal). ; Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD, Portugal).
authors.forename: Dulce
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Esteves
authors.affiliation: University of Beira Interior. Department of Sport Sciences (UBI, Covilhã, Portugal). ; Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development (CIDESD, Portugal).
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marques
keywords: Training program; endurance; prepubescent; strength