Muscular Strength and Power in 3-to 7-Year-Old Children.

To determine absolute and relative (adjusted for body mass) strength, mean power, and mean velocity for upper and lower body resistance exercises, forty-seven young boys and girls participated in maximal strength testing. Healthy young boys and girls, ages 3- to 7-years old, were tested for one-repetition maximum (1-RM) strength, and 70% of 1-RM to determine mean power and mean velocity on the chest press and leg press exercises. Adult weight machines were modified to accommodate the smaller size and lower strength levels of the children. A 2 × 4 (sex × age) ANOVA was used to determine age and sex differences in performance. No interaction or sex differences were observed for any variable at any age. 1-RM strength, mean power, and mean velocity significantly increased across ages (p ≤ .05). When adjusted for body mass, the changes were insignificant, with one exception. Relative mean power for the bench press increased with age. Data indicated children from 3-7 years of age are capable of performing strength and power tests, but may require more attempts at maximal loads compared with adults. It appears that muscular strength and velocity during this stage of development are primarily dependent on increasing body mass, whereas power is influenced by additional variable(s).

Postprandial oxidative stress: influence of sex and exercise training status.

UNLABELLED: An individual's sex and exercise training status may influence oxidative stress. No study has compared postprandial oxidative stress in exercise-trained and untrained men and women. PURPOSE: To compare oxidative stress biomarkers and triglycerides (TAG) in 16 trained and 16 untrained men and women after ingestion of a high-fat meal. METHODS: Blood samples were collected before, and at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after intake of a high-fat meal and analyzed for Trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, xanthine oxidase activity, protein carbonyls (PC), and TAG. Area under the curve was calculated for each variable. RESULTS: Sex main effects were noted for all variables (P < 0.01), except for PC and TEAC (P > 0.05), with higher values for men compared with women. A training status main effect was noted for TEAC (P = 0.02), with higher values for trained compared with untrained subjects. No interaction effects were noted (P > 0.05). Regression analysis indicated that TAG explained the greatest degree of variability for oxidative stress variables, and premeal TAG best predicted the TAG response to feeding (R(2) = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of TEAC, for which higher values were noted for trained compared with untrained subjects, our findings indicate that sex, not exercise training status, influences postprandial oxidative stress. Specifically, women experience a significantly lower oxidative stress response to feeding compared with men. This seems mediated in part by the TAG response to feeding.