- On December 17, Lars Martin Tingelstad will defend his dissertation "Development in Physical Performance and Training Load in Youth Team Sport Athletes: The Influence of Age and Gender."
- Read the full dissertation
- Learn more about the project
- Watch the defense live on NIH's YouTube channel
About the Study
The results of our studies emphasize the need for individualized training adaptations. We caution against relying solely on physical tests for talent identification, advocating instead for a more holistic approach, patience, and continuous support during these critical years.
Given the differences in physical growth between boys and girls, coaches should adjust training programs to optimize performance, development, and reduce injury risk. Since hamstring and hip strength are areas that often show insufficient improvement and are prone to injuries, incorporating injury prevention into training is especially important.
Training load does not always increase with age and may be influenced by competition level and, consequently, training volume. To accurately measure individual load, we recommend using relative speed zones in addition to absolute zones.
Maximum sprint speed should also be accurately assessed during a standardized sprint test. In academies affiliated with senior teams, using the same speed zones across all age groups can help track training load progression toward the senior level.
Key Findings
- The first study highlighted a lack of longitudinal research on physical development in girls and comparative studies between boys and girls in team sports. However, we found that both boys and girls improve their physical abilities during adolescence, with the greatest improvements occurring in early adolescence and slower development in later adolescence. Boys also demonstrated more pronounced improvements than girls, likely due to greater growth during puberty.
- Physical performance and anthropometry vary significantly between genders among youth athletes from a young age. Boys exhibited greater performance differences between the U14 and U16 age groups compared to girls. However, this difference was less evident between U16 and U18, where age-related differences were more similar.
- Both boys and girls showed significant physical performance improvements over one year. However, younger players improved more than older ones, and boys demonstrated greater development in most tests compared to girls of the same age. The lack of significant improvement in hamstring and hip strength, consistent with findings from Paper II, underscores the need for more targeted injury prevention strategies.
- Physical attributes and longitudinal physical development varied significantly across all ages and genders. Notably, there was overlap in development trajectories between boys and girls, with several girls improving as much or more than some boys.
- Differences in weekly training load were primarily driven by training volume. Load increases, however, were observed with age among boys, likely due to improved physical performance. Given the similar MSS (maximum sprint speed) across age groups, this may explain the lack of increase with age in girls, suggesting that observed differences may stem from variations in training strategies. Our data also show differences between examining absolute and relative speed thresholds, indicating that both approaches should be integrated for a better understanding of training load.
Program
10:15 – 11:00 AM Trial lecture: "The effect of strength and conditioning training on physical performance and sports-related injuries in adolescent athletes; How knowledge can be applied to practice."
1:00 – 4:00 PM Defense of the dissertation, "Development in Physical Performance and Training Load in Youth Team Sport Athletes: The Influence of Age and Gender"
Committee
The defense will be chaired by Rector Aage Radmann.
Chair
Anne Marte Pensgaard, Professor, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
Opponents
Professor Jon Oliver, Youth Physical Development Centre, Cardiff School of Sport, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
Associate Professor Hilde Stokvold Gundersen, Department of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Supervisor
Main Supervisor: Live Luteberget
Practical Information
The defense is open to the public and will be streamed live on NIH's YouTube channel.
Organized by Beate Kristensen for the Department of Physical Performance.