Validity of cycling peak power as measured by a short-sprint test versus the Wingate anaerobic test

Abstract

To validate the measurement of peak power output (PPO) using a short cycling sprint test (inertial load (IL) test), we compare it to the widely accepted Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). Fifteen healthy, young, active subjects performed 2 experimental trials. In each trial, subjects warmed up and sprinted 4 times for the IL test. After recovery, they cycled for 30 s at maximum capacity for the WAnT. The experimental trial was replicated 3 d later to test for reliability. Inter- and intra-day PPO measured with the IL test was very reliable (R1 = 0.99 and R1 = 0.94, respectively). The correlation between the IL and WAnT was highly significant (r = 0.82; P < 0.001), although the absolute PPO values were markedly higher for the IL test (1268 ± 41 W vs. 786 ± 27 W; P < 0.001). In conclusion, cycling PPO can be validly assessed with the IL test. The higher PPO attained with an IL test could be related to better identification of peak power, since both velocity and resistance are free to vary during the sprint in comparison with the WAnT, where resistance is fixed. Owing to the short duration of the sprint (4 s) and high intra-day reliability despite a short recovery time (180 s), the IL test is optimal for repeated measurements of anaerobic performance.Key words: inertial load, neuromuscular power, cycle ergometer, intra-day reliability, performance.