Part 1 - Bases

ACTION IMAGESINTEREST GROUPSPaediatric Exercise Science Interest GroupLong-term athlete development and “windows of opportunity” – facts and future challenges. Dr Jon Oliver explains moreDeveloping the next Colin JacksonThe Paediatric Exercise ScienceInterest Group met recently to discusscurrent work relating to long-termathlete development (LTAD). LTAD isnot a new concept but has beenpopularised in recent years by thework of Istvan Balyi, who firstdeveloped a model of LTAD inresponse to the underachievement ofCanada in the Olympic Games (seewww.ltad.ca). This model has sincebeen widely accepted andimplemented in a global sportingcontext including the UK. The LTADmodel encompasses a philosophy ofparticipation for all, with a structuredapproach to physical activity andinterrelationships between physicaleducation, recreational participation inexercise and elite performance.A central tenet to the LTAD model isthe development of specific fitnesscomponents during specific stages ofgrowth and maturation. These stagesrelate to periods of acceleratedadaptation are well established inresearch literature. A review by Viru etal. (1999) shows that performancecomponents do not increase at auniform rate throughout childhood, butinstead there are periods of rapidimprovement in performance atspecific points during growth andmaturation. Much of the current LTADmodel appears to be based on thisreview work, with periods ofaccelerated adaptation suggested to‘‘Whilst the link betweenperiods of acceleratedadaptation and “optimaltrainability” may bebased on sound theoryany supporting evidenceis somewhat sparse.‘‘be related to chronological age forskill, speed and suppleness and todevelopmental age (identified viapeak height velocity) for strength andstamina.Periods of accelerated adaptation arerelated to underlying biologicalprocesses including neural, metabolic,hormonal, cardiovascular andmuscular development. For example,Viru et al. (1999) showed that mostperformance capacities showed aperiod of accelerated adaptation atthe age of 5-9 years old in both sexes,suggesting neural adaptations as themost likely cause of theseperformance improvements. However,what is less clear is the sensitivity tomanipulation of the different biologicalprocesses during periods ofaccelerated adaptation. The currentLTAD model proposes that anybiological system will be mostsensitive to training induced gainsduring naturally occurring periods ofaccelerated adaptation, with suchperiods referred to as “windows ofopportunity,” reflecting periods of10 l Issue 16 l June 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientistwww.bases.org.uk