Evaluation of the validity and reliability of the new specific field test for evaluating the upper body anaerobic capacity of elite wrestlers

Anaerobic power and capacity are considered determinants of performance and are usually assessed in athletes as a part of their physical capacities’ evaluation along the season. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity a new field test for the assessment of the anaerobic capacity of elite wrestlers.

42 elite wrestlers of Khorasan Razavi participated in this study, voluntarily. In two stages with one-week rest interval, an upper-body Wingate anaerobic test and a specifically designed test were measured. Before, immediately, five and ten minutes, variations of the heart rate and blood lactate were measured. In the designed test, a battle rope was used, each participant performed alternating arm waves with a Japanese guard for 30 seconds as maximum as possible.To analyze of data Pearson correlation coefficient, inter-class correlation coefficient , Bland-Altman agreement and linear regression were used.

There was a significant relationship between the anaerobic capacity of the 30-second upper-body Wingate test and the specifically designed test. Also, a significant relationship was observed between absolute (r=0.66; P=0.001) and relative peak (r=0.52; P=0.007), absolute mean power (r=0.44; P=0.02) and absolute minimum power (r=0.41; P=0.03) in two methods. The variations in HR and BLa were statistically significant at minute 5 (r=0.52; P=0.007) and 10 (r=0.65; P=0.001), respectively. The linear regression model was able to predict the anaerobic capacity using the specifically designed test. The inter-class agreement coefficient was poor (P=0.463), but my Bland-Altman diagram showed that there was a good agreement between the mean and the difference in anaerobic capacity in both methods.

Using available alternative methods with high external validity to assess upper anaerobic capacity is a more appropriate method than laboratory tests. The specifically designed test seems to able the prediction of the upper body anaerobic capacity in elite wrestlers.