Strength and flexibility in gymnasts before and after menarche.

simple anthropometric measures, flexibility, and strength performance tests were conducted on 30 young gymnasts and repeated one year later. During the intervening year, 13 gymnasts, average age 14.5 at the second year, reached menarche, while the remaining 17, average age 14.1 years, did not. Multivariate analyses of covariance were calculated to test for differences between the groups at Year 2, using the Year 1 scores as covariates. No significant differences between the groups were found. Tendencies to linearity of physique and late maturation, noted in the literature among very skilled gymnasts, seemed to be confirmed among this group of local competitors.