YOUNG FEMALE ATHLETES AND KNEE EXTENSOR AGE-RELATED PROFILE

Abstract

Muscular strength can be likened to a skilled act (Kraemer and Newton, 2000) and is increased during developmental age (Van Praagh and Dore, 2002). Thus when higher mechanical loading occurs over a different knee angle range, such as in the track & field jumpers (TFJ) (Graham-Smith and Lees, 2005) and the volleyball players (VP) (Tokuyama et al., 2005), a sport and age-related profile may be exhibited in young athletes not only for maximal torque levels but also for the relations between the torque at the peak of the torque-angle curve and the torque at other knee angles (angle-angle (A-A) relationships).