HALO Visiting Scholar from Brazil, Dr. Diego Silva, is lead author on a paper, “Impact of physical growth, body adiposity and lifestyle on muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness of adolescents,” that was recently published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. Citation details and a summary of the paper is below.

Silva DAS, Martins PC. Impact of physical growth, body adiposity and lifestyle on muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness of adolescents. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2017 Oct;21(4):896-901.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of physical growth, body adiposity and lifestyle on cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength of pubescent and post-pubescent adolescents. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with 1132 adolescents (14-19 years) in Brazil. Aerobic fitness was measured using the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test. Muscle strength was assessed using manual dynamometer. Maturational stages were defined through the Tanner criteria. RESULTS: Boys at pubertal maturation stage showed higher VO2max values than those at the post-pubertal stage when the influence of body adiposity and lifestyle was disregarded. Girls at pubertal maturation stage showed higher VO2max values than those in the post-pubertal stage when the influence of age was disregarded. For muscle strength, no significant differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: The variables that influence the association between VO2max and maturational stage are different for boys and girls.