Comparison of Anaerobic Performance with Laboratory and Field Tests in Trained Children

Abstract

Anaerobic performance is considered an indicator of performance for short-term muscle activities of high intensity. It is important to determine whether different anaerobic field tests performed to measure anaerobic performance can be used as an alternative to WAnT performed in the laboratory. The study aimed to compare the anaerobic performance with laboratory and field tests in trained children. One-hundred four athletes between the ages of 10 and 16, minimum age of training of one year in different sports voluntarily participated in the study. Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) was performed as the reference test. Besides, Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) and Pediatric RAST (PRAST) were performed to determine anaerobic performance. Peak power (PP), average power (AP), minimum power (MP), fatigue index (FI) and total exercise time (TED) were determined for each test. All variables of WAnT, RAST, and PRAST were significantly different (p<0.01). According to test-retest results of all tests, ICC [95% CI] values have a high-reliability coefficient for all variables. It was found there is a high correlation significantly between WAnT and RAST for all variables (p<0.01). Besides, there were also high correlations significantly between WAnT-PRAST and RAST-PRAST excluding fatigue index (p<0.01). As a result of this study, it was determined all tests have high reliability. Considering that WAnT requires complex, expensive device and tools, trained staff and is performed in the form of cycling in the laboratory, RAST and PRAST performed with body weight in field conditions can be used to determine anaerobic performance in trained children. High correlations between tests support this determination.