Changes in height and motor performance relative to peak height velocity: A mixed-longitudinal study of Spanish boys and girls

Longitudinal changes in stature and motor performance were studied in an adolescent sample of 36 boys and 53 girls. Peak height velocity (PHV) was determined in 28 boys and 38 girls using non-smoothed polynomials. The estimations of PHV and the age-at—PHV are, respectively, 11.4 ± 2.2 cm/yr and 13.0 ± 0.63 years (boys), and 8.7 ± 1.6 cm/yr and 12.4 ± 0.57 years (girls). Performances in explosive strength (standing long jump; medicine ball throw) and flexibility (trunk maximal flexion) exhibit peak development during the year following PHV in both sexes. Maximal mean growth velocities in an endurance run (six minutes) occur before PHV in girls and after PHV in boys. Peak velocities in agility (4 × 6 m shuttle run), running speed (40 m dash) and abdominal strength-resistance (sit-ups for 30 seconds) occur before PHV in both sexes. There also is an acceleration of performances in these three tests after PHV. The results indicate that performance in several motor tests shows an adolescent spurt of an intensity that is proportionally comparable to the adolescent height spurt in both sexes. The dynamics of changes in motor performance in relation to PHV appears similar in both sexes. The most striking difference occurs in the endurance run. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:647–660, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.