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Introduction Age and sport specialization are two of the most important factors that can impact an athlete's flexibility, but their influence during adolescence in youth athletics hasn’t yet been investigated.
Material and methods Retrospective analysis of the lower limb flexibility assessments in the athletics squad of a full-time sports academy in the Middle East for nine consecutive seasons (2006/07 to 2014/15). Flexibility data were analyzed for eight lower limb muscle groups (mean value±standard deviation) in four athletics events (throws, sprints & jumps, distance running and non-specialized) and seven age groups (categorized yearly from under 13 to above 18 years old). Total lower limb flexibility (TF) was calculated by summating all individual muscle group values and comparisons were made between age groups and athletics events with statistical significance set at p<0.05.
Results 127 adolescent athletes (age=15.4±1.8 years) completed, in total, 604 flexibility tests. No statistically significant differences between right and left were found for any muscle (p>0.05). A weak inverse correlation (r=−0.21, p<0.001) was found between age and TF, with no significant changes in hamstrings, adductors and hip flexors (p>0.05). Throwers were found to be significantly less flexible (1091±93) than distance runners (1227±95), sprints & jumps (1186±80) and non-specialized athletes (1178±78); distance runners displayed greater hip external rotators flexibility than any other group (p<0.01), and up to 78% more than throwers.
Conclusions This research confirmed that throwers were the least flexible of all events in youth athletics. Overall lower limb flexibility appears to decrease during adolescence, although hamstrings, adductors and hip flexors remained unchanged.
