Strength and conditioning in adolescent female athletes

Abstract

Despite evidence that strength and conditioning (S&C) programs decrease injury risk and increase sport performance, young females are rarely offered S&C programs comparable to those of their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current body of available literature regarding S&C in adolescent female athletes, describe potential benefits, and generate recommendations for S&C programs for female adolescent athletes. This systematic review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Systematic searches of the PubMed and Google Scholar databases were conducted using the following keywords: 'female athletes,' 'injury prevention,' 'adolescent,' 'physical fitness,' 'strength,' 'female adolescent,' and 'conditioning.' Studies included in this review evaluated the effectiveness of S&C protocols and/or the habits and attitudes of coaches and athletic trainers working with female adolescent athletes. Seven articles evaluating S&C programs for the adolescent female athlete were used as the basis for this systematic review. These articles described current protocols and/or factors that should be taken into account when designing S&C programs. The identified articles focused on improving the strength of adolescent female athletes, decreasing the risk of injury, and exposing female athletes to the benefits of S&C that are routinely afforded to their male counterparts. Despite the critical potential benefits of S&C training, such as improved landing mechanics, coaches and athletic trainers do not routinely implement S&C programs for female adolescent athletes. The lack of such programs is largely due to misconceptions surrounding female athletes, such as the perception that females fear bulking up. S&C programs for adolescent female athletes should incorporate stretching of the hip adductors, targeted hamstring, gluteal and quadriceps strengthening, and a synergistic adaptation model, which tailors training protocols to an athlete's pubertal stage.

Hip and Groin Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Soccer Players

“…While these studies are promising, strength and conditioning interventions are less frequently offered or implemented for female compared with male athletes. 27 These results are consistent with the types of injury sustained by female NCAA soccer players. Muscle tears, including tears of the adductor and iliopsoas/sartorius muscles, were the most common injuries (81.5%).…”

Expert’s Choice: 2018’s Most Exciting Research in the Field of Pediatric Exercise Science

“…It is of ubiquitous bias, whether intended or unintended, in the neuromuscular exercise physiology literature that investigations of male participants constitute a much higher predominance than the examination and analysis of female responses (108,109,151). It has come to light in the health sciences and medical literature that such a bias can have dire consequences when health practitioners, such as doctors, are not cognizant of female responses, symptoms, and reactions that are distinct from men.…”

“…In 2018, 2 meta-analyses examining sex differences with resistance (109) and plyometric (108) training and the literature's shortcomings were published. In addition, another review on strength and conditioning in adolescent female athletes was published by Sommi et al (151). Hopefully, these reviews serve as beacons to highlight the need for further research in neuromuscular exercise physiology and training of female responses and adaptations.…”

“…In comparison to the vast literature on male training responses, the two Moran et al meta-analyses identified only 11 and 14 relevant studies investigating resistance and plyometric training responses, respectively. Similarly, Sommi et al (151) wished to evaluate and generate recommendations for strength and conditioning in adolescent female athletes, but could only find 7 relevant articles.…”

“…The Sommi et al (151) review emphasized many of the physiological hurdles that girls may experience during puberty, such as increases in body mass and height and the onset of menstruation, that could affect sports participation and lead to emotional stress. Female-specific factors place girls at higher risk for musculoskeletal injuries, such as stress fractures and anterior cruciate ligament tears.…”