Gender Differences in Postural Stability among 13-Year-Old Alpine Skiers

Abstract

This experiment examined changes in body sway after Wingate test (WAnT) in 19 adolescents practicing alpine skiing, subjected to the same type of training load for 4–5 years (10 girls and nine boys). The postural examinations were performed with eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), and sway reverenced vision (SRV) in the medial-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) planes. The displacement of center of foot pressure (CoP), range of sway (RS), mean sway velocity (MV), way length, and surface area were measured in bipedal upright stance before and after the WAnT to assess the influence of fatigue on postural balance. There were no significant differences in WAnT parameters between girls and boys. Relative peak power (RPP), relative total work (RWtot) were (girls vs. boys) 8.89 ± 0.70 vs. 9.57 ± 1.22 W/kg, p < 0.05 and 227.91 ± 14.98 vs. 243.22 ± 30.24 W/kg, p < 0.05 respectively. The fatigue index (FI) was also on similar level in both genders; however, blood lactate concentration (BLa) was significantly higher in boys (10.35 ± 1.16 mM) than in girls (8.67 ± 1.35 mM) p = 0.007. In the EO examination, statistically significant differences between resting and fatigue conditions in the whole group and after the division into girls and boys were found. In fatigue conditions, significant gender differences were noted for measurements in the ML plane (sway path and RS) and RS in the AP plane. Comparison of the three conditions shows differences between EO vs. EC and SRV in AP plane measured parameters, and for RS in ML plane in rest condition in girls. The strong correlations between FI and CoP parameters mainly in ML plane in the whole group for all examination conditions were noted. By genders, mainly RS in ML plane strongly correlates with FI (r > 0.7). No correlation was found between BLa and CoP parameters (p > 0.06). The presented results indicate that subjecting adolescents of both genders to the same training may reduce gender differences in the postural balance ability at rest but not in fatigue conditions and that girls are significantly superior in postural balance in the ML plane than boys. It was also shown that too little or too much information may be destructive to postural balance in young adolescents.

Postural Stability in Single-Leg Quiet Stance in Highly Trained Athletes: Sex and Sport Differences

“…Novel research indicates that postural stability in athletes is not influenced by sex [8]. However, some studies noted better postural stability in females, which was suggested to be related to earlier physical and psychological maturation processes [9] and superior sensory integration [10].…”

The Influence of Gender and the Specificity of Sports Activities on the Performance of Body Balance for Students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports

“…Dynamic stability testing during a single-leg jump landing did not differentiate between the results of the dominant leg vs. non-dominant leg, but gender differences are found, with women exhibiting higher dynamic postural stability scores in the vertical direction [65]. The postural balance of girls who practice alpine skiing is superior to boys of the same age (13 years) in the mid-lateral plane (ML), and subjecting both genders to the same training can reduce the differences between balance values, but not conditions of muscle fatigue [66]. Fatigue induced by high-intensity exercise applied to Irish university students creates problems of dynamic stability, but women outperform men before and after the exercise, being less affected by fatigue [67].…”

Effects of General Fatigue Induced by Exhaustive Exercise on Posture and Gait Stability of Healthy Young Men

“…Moreover, only posture and gate of healthy young men were analyzed. Future studies should investigate the effects of exhaustive exercise on posture in women, to identify gender differences [ 33 ]. A second limitation was the lack of a correlation analysis to show how the levels or the change in the levels of lactate are related to the change in the spatio-temporal gait parameters.…”