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Topic Date User

The Last Day - Angie Scarth-Johnson on Zona 30, 8b 23-Apr-2015 At 10:10:39 PM jezza

Message

We’ll probably see more of this (i.e. prepubescent girls on harder, crimpy climbs).
- small hands
- excellent strength to weight ratio
- plenty of free time to train
- financial support
- flexibility
- made out of chewing gum and elastic bands, so don’t tend to get injured
(what’s the average age of a female olympic gymnast?)

Most of the above applies to prepubescent boys too. On the other hand, male power to weight tends to improve dramatically after puberty. It tends to go down for females (see below). There’s exceptions.

Also, there’s some things I’ve noticed that aren’t very scientific. Girl birthday parties at the climbing gym aren’t the same as boy birthday parties. The girls are way better. They tend to use their feet and try to get to the top carefully. The boys just climb for a bit and then muck around on the ropes like Tarzan because that’s more fun, apparently.

Pretty much all the young boys I know tend to be after instant gratification. My son and his friends do plenty of things, but in terms of fanatic dedication (ie they'll do it for hours without complaint), there’s only video games and reading. If he’s going to do sport, there’d better be other boys to run around with and bump into. There’s no way he, or any of his friends are going to dedicate hours of time doing something that doesn’t yield fast results, doubly so if it’s a solo activity. I don’t have a daughter, but it seems to me that girls are a bit different in this respect.

There’s plenty of exceptions to the above. I am sure there are 8 year old male, internationally ranked archers out there (that are also chess grand masters), and plenty of parents moaning about young daughters who won’t stop playing Team Fortress and who lack focus.

While I’m highly impressed with this young lady’s accomplishment, I’m more impressed by the dedication of older, heavier women (and men) who have jobs and/or families, and are still managing to climb hard (some of them on trad….)

http://jap.physiology.org/content/90/1/35
http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/145971/Article_weight_training_preadolescent_strength_training_Narelle_Sibte.pdf