A sports performance is affected by a number of factors including sex and age. The first significant stage of development of physical activities takes place during the first stage of human ontogenesis. During later life individual movement activities disappear and in the old age it is recommendable to carry out physical activities to keep healthy and fit.
Physiological specialties of the child's organism under workload
Apart from a calendar age there is also a biological age playing an important role in a sporting environment. This refers to a real development stage of the child's organism. Differences in the biological age may be of up to 3 years in some periods of life.
Proportional age is based on the relation between the development of body parameters (height, weight, circumference, width). The most accurate method to detect the maturity of the skeletal frame is the so called bone age (RTG image of wrist necessary). The bodily development in boys is completed around 18-20 years of age, in girls it is a bit earlier. In the toddler's age a movement should derive from spontaneous activity. A child should not be exposed to any sports activity as this could damage the movement apparatus not fully developed at the time. In human ontogenesis the process of growth and development is first completed in the brain which happens at the end of the preschool age (3-6 years) when a dramatic motoric development is initiated. In the younger school age (6-11 years) there occurs a smooth growth of all the organs. This period is characterized by the rapid development of coordination abilities, there is considerable potential for speed and movability. In the older school age (11-16 years) there is puberty. The development of physical and mental side continues up to the age of 17 in girls and a bit longer in boys. In this period the increase of sexual hormones shows in the increased muscle power. This period also provides the best conditions for the fastest and most effective process of motoric learning possible. The full physical development is reached at the end of youth (15-18 years). At this age humans can conduct their physical activities without restraint.
The size of the heart is directly linked with the body size which means children have a smaller heart than adults. This naturally means the child's body contains smaller volume of blood, children have smaller systolic volume. The higher maximum heart frequency in a child compensates only partially for lower systolic volume with the result that the maximum minute volume is smaller than in the equally trained adults.
Sexual differences in sport
The distinct differences between men and women may be found in the body organization. Men have a more significant muscle component than women while women are inclined to store more body fat than men. Differences in the physical performance first become apparent in the beginning of puberty. Male sexual hormones build up more muscle mass resulting in more significant muscle power. Women show smaller aerobic capacity, they switch to the anaerobic lactic way of energy production earlier than men. In women we encounter higher HF max and HF and Q values under submaximal workload. Under resting conditions women, however, tend to display lower Qs values, they have a smaller heart and smaller blood volume. Women have reduced vital lungs capacity, reduced breathing volume and minute ventilation.
Sports performance in women may be affected by the menstruation cycle which starts at about 13 years of age in non-sporting girls and later in sporting girls. Sporting women are likely to suffer from the lack of iron which may negatively impact the performance of endurance athletes especially.
At the beginning of pregnancy the performance of cardiovascular system grows which boosts the ability to deliver better endurance performance. Despite this trend pregnant women should not compete. Activities of moderate to medium intensity are recommended in this period. From the 5th month of pregnancy women are advised to interrupt training and resume it 6 weeks after giving birth if the delivery was a problem-free one. At this stage women are advised to resume low intensity training. Full intensity training is recommended 6 months after childbirth.