摘要
Purpose The aim of the present study was to evaluate the trunk strength capacity of alpine ski racers aged 10-18 years,who were tested during the last 15 years,to identify reference values for trunk flexor to extensor strength ratios according to age and sex.Methods In total,2841 participants(1605 males,1236 females;10-18 years)were included,who were pupils of a famous skiing-specific secondary modern school or members of the provincial ski team between 2006 and 2020.The maximum isometric trunk flexion and extension strength was measured using the slightly modified Back Check.Sex-specific differ-ences were assessed with Student’s t test or Mann-Whitney-U test.Univariate analyses of variance or Kruskal-Wallis-H tests were used to assess differences between age groups.Descriptive sex-and age-specific reference values were calculated(norm area:mean±½standard deviation).Results Sex-specific differences were found for both flexion(starting at 11 years)and extension strength(starting at 12 years)(P<0.001).Lower flexion to extension strength ratios were identified for males(0.89±0.18)compared with females(0.82±0.15),but the ratios remained constant across age groups for both sexes.Conclusion The present study provides age-and sex-specific reference values for trunk flexion to extension strength ratios for 10-to 18-year old youth and adolescent ski racers.The data of the present study represent a large data pool of youth ski racers at a high-performance level;thus,coaches can use the reference values for comparing the ratios of their athletes.