Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine age-related changes in isokinetic leg flexion and extension peak torque (PT), PT/body weight (PT/ BW), and PT/fat-free weight (PT/FFW) in young wrestlers. Male wrestlers (N = 108; age M ± SD = 11.3 ± 1.5 years) volunteered to be measured for peak torque at 30, 180, and 300° · s-1. In addition, underwater weighing was performed to determine body composition characteristics. The sample was divided into six age groups (8.1-8.9, n = 10; 9.0-9.9, n = 11; 10.0-10.9, n = 25; 11.0-11.9, n = 22; 12.0-12.9, n = 28; 13.0-13.9, n = 12), and repeated measures ANOVAs with Tukey post hoc comparisons showed increases across age for PT, PT/BW, and PT/FFW. The results of this study indicated that there were age-related increases in peak torque that could not be accounted for by changes in BW or FFW. It is possible that either an increase in muscle mass per unit of FFW, neural maturation, or both, contributes to the increase in strength across age in young male athletes.