physiological & developmental issues for adolescent girls ...€¦ · central oregon community...

Central Oregon Community College | 2600 N.W. College Way | Bend, Oregon 97701 | (541) 383-7700 | www.cocc.edu

Presented by Julie Downing, PhD, FACSM

COCC Health & Human Performance Dept Chair,

COCC Exercise Physiology Lab Director,

ACSM Exam Development Team Member

Physiological & Developmental Issues

for Adolescent Girls in Endurance Sports Fast & Female Clinic, Bend, Oregon


OUTLINE

• Adolescence Defined

• Menstrual cycle effect on performance

• Female Athlete Triad

• ACL Injury Prevention

• Jumping – building bone

• VO2max development

• Overtraining

• Summary

Health & Human Performance


Adolescence – the period of life from

puberty to maturity



Average age of first period in

U.S. is 12.5 years (NHANES)



Average age of first period (menarche) is decreasing



Menstrual Cycle & Performance

• Body temp up in luteal phase (last 2 weeks of cycle) due to

increased progesterone, therefore moderately impaired

thermoregulation

• However outstanding performances and world records have been

established during ALL phases of the menstrual cycle



Menstrual Cycle & Performance

Athletic Amenorrhea • Periods stop

• 3% general population, 10-24% in distance runners

• Due to high training volume & increased psychological stress

(despite body fat) which affects hormones & catecholamines



Dysmenorrhea

• Painful menstruation

• Incidence is higher in female athletes than non-

athletes

• Due to prostoglandins causing smooth

muscles in the uterus to contract, which in turn

causes ischemia and pain.



If you don’t eat enough, body fat decreases, estrogen is stored in fat so if

there’s not enough fat to store estrogen in, the body decreases estrogen

production which is very bad since estrogen protects the skeleton from bone

resorption.


Female Athlete Triad –

• 3 most common health problems facing young female athletes

• These 3 are inter-related. One problem can promote another


• Cross-country skiing is great aerobic exercise but not the

only exercise necessary to protect the bones (not fully

weight bearing as weight is distributed over the ski).

• Important to include weight training, running &/or

jumping. GIRLS NEED TO JUMP!!!

• Walking is not quite as good.

• Swimming & cycling are not

great alone for the bones.



ACL Injuries in Adolescent Girls

• 4-8 x greater risk than boys

• During cutting or landing tasks

• Increases risk of osteoarthritis

Why so prevalent? • Estrogen increases joint laxity

• Narrower femoral notch

• Smaller size of ACL

• Greater Q-Angle

• Pronated foot

• Landing, cutting, & loading in valgus

• Using quads too much instead of hips

• Less knee flexion (overusing the knees,

landing stiff legged)



ACL Injuries in Adolescent Girls

• Notch smaller than boys – may contribute



VALGUS =

knock kneed landing

= BAD!!!



Q-Angle is larger in girls

than boys.



Jumping / Landing

• Do NOT land straight-legged

• Bend your knees!

• Keep knee in line with hips and ankle straight

ahead



ACL Injury Prevention

• Jump training

• With proper technique

• Land with bent knees

• Balance training

• Strengthen the hips

• PEP ACL Prevention Program

• Prevent Injury & Enhance Performance

• Can decrease ACL injury rate by 74%!

• Santa Monica Sports Medicine Foundation

• http://smsmf.org/pep-program


http://smsmf.org/pep-program




VO2max Development in Girls • Most oxygen one can take in relative to body weight

per minute of all-out maximal exercise

• Higher the better for endurance performance

• Girl XC skiers & runners = 50’s

• Average adolescent girl =

37-38 ml / kg / min

• How to improve?

• Intensity training done at the

proper frequency based on time of

season

• Hard-Easy Principle



Overtraining Signs & Symptoms

• Decreased performance

• Heaviness, extreme chronic fatigue

• Elevated morning pulse (>10% or 10 bpm)

• Elevated blood lactate, heart rate, & VO2 during

submaximal exercise

• Inability to reach max heart rate or VO2max

• Body weight loss (decreased body fat) with decreased

appetite (decreased body fat)

• Altered mood state: irritability, depression, listlessness, low

morale, lack of enthusiasm

• Muscle tenderness / soreness



Overtraining Prevention

• Listen to your body!!!!!! • Make sure coach is educated! • “Hard-easy” approach & periodization • Utilize a physiology test to aid in the design of a proper training program & the FOLLOW IT!! • Back off or take off if you feel tired, you’re getting sick,

or you’re already sick • Schedule complete rest days, active recovery days, &

cross-training days • Don’t be afraid to seek advise of a health care

professional if necessary Examples: Registered Sports Dietician, Sports Psychologist, Sports Physician, etc.



Summary

• Teach girls how to jump and land properly

• Provide opportunity for girls to perform muscle

strengthening activities (especially hip muscles)

• Provide good nutrition for girls, especially calcium & Vit. D

• Make sure that girls are not overtraining. Don’t go too long

or have several hard days in a row.

• Minimize girls stress. Teach them

effective coping skills.

• Make training fun! Be creative!



Thank you for your time!

Questions????

E-mail: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

physiological & developmental issues for adolescent girls ...€¦ · central oregon community...

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