Youth Muscular Strength and Power Development: From School-Based Programs to Athlete Pathways
A special issue of Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology (ISSN 2411-5142). This special issue belongs to the section "Kinesiology and Biomechanics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 146
Editor
2. School of Education, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney 2007, Australia
3. Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: pediatric dynapenia; long term athletic development; psychomotricity; education; physical education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to advance understanding of muscular strength and power development in children and adolescents, integrating mechanistic insights with applied practice across school and sport settings. As muscular fitness is increasingly recognised as foundational to lifelong health, injury prevention, and athletic performance, there is a pressing need to translate emerging evidence into developmentally appropriate and scalable models.
We invite contributions of original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and theoretical contributions examining neuromuscular adaptation, muscle–tendon development, growth and maturation, and training responsiveness in youth populations. Submissions exploring long-term athletic development frameworks, resistance training safety, and load management are encouraged.
Priority will be given to studies investigating school-based strength interventions, integration, monitoring and assessment of muscular fitness, and the role of foundational strength in talent development and athlete pathways. Research addressing inclusive and adapted strength training, as well as the application of emerging technologies for monitoring youth development, is also welcome.
This Special Issue seeks to provide an evidence-based perspective to inform educators, coaches, clinicians, and sport scientists working to optimise youth muscular fitness across developmental contexts.
Dr. Andrew Sortwell
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- youth resistance training
- muscular strength development
- long-term athletic development
- neuromuscular adaptation
- school-based physical education
- injury prevention
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