Concurrent validity of power output derived from the non-motorised treadmill test in sedentary adults.

INTRODUCTION

Many consider the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) as a reference standard assessment mode in the measurement of lower limb short-term power output. However the WAnT is criticised for having low ecological validity, in non-cycling tasks and is reliant on a predetermined applied force, which might not elicit the highest power output. A viable alternative to the WAnT is the Non-Motorised Treadmill (NMT) Test, which allows for power measurement in all-out intensity effort sprint-running. With the reliability of the NMT to elicit power in sedentary adults already established, the aim was to compare peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) derived from a 10-s sprint on the NMT to that derived from a 10-s WAnT, to establish concurrent validity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twelve male [age 26.6 +/- 2.4 years, body mass (BM) 63.0 +/- 7.2 kg] and 11 female (age 25.3 +/- 3.6 years, BM 51.0 +/- 4.0 kg) sedentary adults participated in the study. PP and MP in absolute, ratio-scaled and allometrically-scaled to BM were analysed. Ratio limits of agreement (LOA) was used to establish the agreement between PP and MP from the NMT and the WAnT.

RESULTS

PP in absolute and ratio-scaled to BM from the NMT was between 1.04 and 1.12 times that of PP from the WAnT in 95% of the attempts (PP: NMT, 647.1 +/- 176.4W vs WAnT, 597.0 +/- 146.0W). MP in absolute and ratio-scaled to BM from the NMT test was between 0.88 and 0.97 times of that from the WAnT (MP: NMT, 508.9 +/- 130.7W vs WAnT, 548.7 +/- 131.3W). Power produced on the NMT and the WAnT by sedentary adults shared moderate and acceptable levels of agreement.

CONCLUSIONS

These results affirmed that the NMT could be considered as a viable alternative to the WAnT for the assessment of PP and MP in allout intensity sprint-running lasting 10 s in sedentary adults.