Aerobic Fitness, Maturation, and Training Experience in Youth Basketball.

Relationships among chronological age (CA), maturation, training experience, and body dimensions with peak oxygen uptake (VO_2max) were considered in male basketball players 14-16 y of age. Data for all players included maturity status estimated as percentage of predicted adult height attained at the time of the study (Khamis-Roche protocol), years of training, body dimensions, and VO_2max (incremental maximal test on a treadmill). Proportional allometric models derived from stepwise regressions were used to incorporate either CA or maturity status and to incorporate years of formal training in basketball. Estimates for size exponents (95% CI) from the separate allometric models for VO2max were height 2.16 (1.23-3.09), body mass 0.65 (0.37-0.93), and fat-free mass 0.73 (0.46-1.02). Body dimensions explained 39% to 44% of variance. The independent variables in the proportional allometric models explained 47% to 60% of variance in VO2max. Estimated maturity status (11-16% of explained variance) and training experience (7-11% of explained variance) were significant predictors with either body mass or estimated fat-free mass {P < .01) but not with height. Biological maturity status and training experience in basketball had a significant contribution to VO_2max via body mass and fat-free fat mass and also had an independent positive relation with aerobic performance. The results highlight the importance of considering variation associated with biological maturation in aerobic performance of late-adolescent boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]