Affiliations: [a] School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK | [b] Institute for Sport, Physical Education, and Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Mykolas Kavaliauskas, School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, 2.B.38, Sighthill Campus, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, Scotland, UK. Tel.: +44 0131 455 3381; E-mail:m.kavaliauskas@napier.ac.uk
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use of 6 and 30 second Wingate anaerobic tests (WAnT),
performance reliability of these protocols over repeated trials in active
males and females has not been determined. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the performance reliability and test sensitivity of
the 6 s and 30 s WAnT. METHODS: Twenty physically active participants (10 males and 10 females) completed a
6 s and 30 s WAnT against 7.5% body mass resistance on four occasions. RESULTS: Peak power output (PPO) and mean power output (MPO) did not differ across
trials for either gender. Male PPO in both sprint durations demonstrated
random variation (standard error of measurement (SEM)) ≤ 3.9% in
all between-trials comparisons. For MPO, SEM was ≤ 2.9% in all
comparisons. For females, random variation in PPO in both sprint durations
was lower in trial 3-4 than earlier pairs of trials. MPO between trials in
the 6 s sprint was variable, with the smallest variation between trials 1-2.
For the 30 s sprint, MPO was more stable across trials. Across all four
trials, only MPO in the 30 s test for males displayed good test sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, familiarisation may not be required to establish consistent
performance in physically active males or females during the 6 and 30 s
WAnT. Furthermore, general marginal test sensitivity in both tests and
genders suggests that results of WAnT in physically active participants
should not be used to investigate the genuine effect of an intervention.
Keywords: Performance, testing, cycle, sprint, power
