A – The sensitive periods of athletic development represent a unique timeframe within which adequate exposure to a certain stimulus will produce optimal gains. For instance, strength, flexibility, and elements of coordination all have relative age periods during which ability/proficiency in these areas are best produced. This is a good place to start with respect to gender differences and training.

Elements of Coordination

Endurance

Between the ages of 8 – 13, natural increases in endurance between males and females is similar. Around the ages of 12 – 13, non-training females will reach their peak in terms of endurance capabilities. After this age, stagnation and regression will follow. For young males, endurance continues to grow with the greatest increases seen between 8 – 11 and 15 – 16.

Strength

With young males, absolute strength increases steadily between 7 – 19 years of age. Relative strength increases are seen most around the age of 13 – 14. The strength gains of young males and young females are similar during the pre-pubescent ages. Through the pubescent years, strength development in females begins to languish while further gains are seen in young males.

Flexibility

As a general rule, females are more flexible than males. Many factors contribute to this phenomenon, including the anatomical structure of the respective genders’ pelvic regions. It is generally accepted that there are four basic pelvic classifications –

• Gynecoid
• Android
• Platypelloid
• Anthropid

Each of these pelvic classifications possess varying structural identities and therefore either aid or restrict the potential flexibility of the lumbo-hip-pelvic region.

Shorter leg length and lower centers of gravity are two other reasons why females tend to be more flexible than males. Worth mentioning is the joint specificity under which the laws of flexibility fall. Shoulder ROM is not correlated with hip ROM, necessarily; nor does the unilateral measurement of one joint inexorably correlate to the same joint on the other side of the body. More over, flexibility is not only specific to the joint, but also to individual joint movements; Flexibility simply does not exist as a single characteristic.

Here are some example exercises for training the physical items mentioned above:

Children & Sports Children, Jozeph Drabik