CHILDRENS AND ADOLESCENTS ANAEROBIC PERFORMANCE DURING CYCLE ERGOMETRY

Cycle ergometry studies originated in the early 1900s but it was not u ntil the early 1970s that the first studies of children and anaerobic performance were established. Since that time, research into the anaer obic performance of children and adolescents has proliferated, mainly due to attempts by investigators to overcome methodological problems. Besides the increase in studies using the mast popular anaerobic test, the friction-braked Wingate, other tests such as the force-velocity a nd isokinetic cycle ergometers are becoming more common. No matter how the data are standardised, there is unequivocal agreement that childr en's and adolescents' anaerobic power scores are lower than those of a dults. Qualitative muscular differences are often cited for this dispa rity rather than differences in the quantity of muscle, but conclusive research is lacking in this area. Despite the ethical considerations involved in studies with children, cycle ergometry has aided researche rs to assess external short term power output, mean power and fatigue.