PhD, Associate Professor K.R. Mekhdieva¹
PhD, Professor A.V. Zakharova¹
M.A. Vladelshchikova¹
Postgraduate student V.E. Timokhina^1
1Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg

Keywords: Wingate test, sport elite, lactate threshold test, speed-strength endurance, qualities.

Background. Wingate test is widely used in the modern athletic training systems since it provides fairly objective speed-strength test rates indicative of the actual individual anaerobic power critical for success in many sports. Despite the fact that the speed-strength qualities may be rated by many test systems [3, 4] the Wingate test is ranked among the most popular and accessible ones [1].

Objective of the study was to rate and analyze the Wingate test data of the national sport elite on a discipline-specific basis.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was run at the Functionality and Integrated Athletic Progress Test Laboratory of the Ural Federal University. We sampled the 17-35-year-old elite athletes (n=129) competing in football, futsal, mixed martial arts, cross-country skiing, track and field sports, speed skating and judo. The sport subsamples were split on a skills-specific (WCMS, MS, CMS) and competitive-success-specific basis (national and international titles).

Thus the mixed martial arts competitors were split up into the European and World Championship medalists (n=13, aged 25.23 ± 4.56 years, 178.61 ± 4.48 cm tall and weighing in 78.53 ± 9.98 kg on average) and Russian Championship medalists (n=16, aged 24.5 ± 2.96 years, 178.75 ± 5.88 cm tall and weighing in 78.75 ± 8.21 kg on average). It should be mentioned that most of the world-class fighters are ranked high in other combat sports including sambo, wrestling, kickboxing, hand-to-hand fighting, grappling, boxing, etc. The cross-country skiers were split up into the World Class Masters of Sports,  medalists of international competitions (n=7, aged 31 ± 2.58 years, 180.85 ± 3.57 cm tall and weighing in 79 ± 1.82 kg on average) and Masters of Sports and Candidate Masters of Sports, Russian Championship medalists (n = 20, aged 19.15 ± 4.84 years, 176.65 ± 4.93 cm tall and weighing in 69.6 ± 6.58 kg on average).

The futsal players were split up into age groups of 21-minus (n=16, aged 19.18 ± 0.98 years, 178.56 ± 4.77 cm tall and weighing in 70.87 ± 7.71 kg on average) and 21-plus-year-olds (n=16, aged 28.06 ± 5.60 years, 179.68 ± 6.22 cm tall and weighing in 73.93 ± 6.97 kg on average). Note that the above age groups were actually skills-specific as the junior group was dominated by the Russian Championship medalists, whilst the senior group included the Super League and European/ World Championship medalists. The football sample (n=29, aged 20.24 ± 1.27 years, 181.65 ± 6.07 cm tall and weighing in 73.79 ± 5.49 kg on average) was composed of the Professional Football League players.

The speed ​​skating subsample (n=3, aged 20.66 ± 6.35 years, 180 ± 2 cm tall and weighing in 75.33 ± 10.01 kg on average); track and field subsample (n = 3, aged 25, 66 ± 2.30 years, 174 ± 10.39 cm tall and weighing in 59 ± 5.29 kg on average) specialized in the long-distance and highland races; and the judo subsample (n=6, aged 20.5 ± 1.51 years, 175 ± 6.92 cm tall and weighing in 81.5 ± 9.48 kg on average) were all Masters of Sport and Russian Championship medalists. A Reference Group was made of the Institute of Physical Culture students including the Sverdlovsk Oblast sport team members and unsporting students (n​​=53, aged 23.19 ± 4.8 years, 177.65 ± 19.43 cm tall and weighing in 77.76 ± 11.05 kg on average).

Every subject gave an informed written consent for the study and individual test data processing and publication. Wingate test was run using a vertical cycle ergometer Monark Ergomedic 894E Peak Bike (made by Monark, Sweden) with a standard test protocol [2]: 5-minute muscle warm-up (staircase run, on-spot run, etc.) plus 1-minute cycling warm-up followed by a 30-second top acceleration test with a preset weights rated at 7.5% of the individual body mass – to produce the lactate threshold test rate (W/ kg) and average power (W/ kg).

Results and discussion. Given in Table hereunder are the Wingate test data with the lactate threshold test and average power rates for the sampled sport groups.

Table 1. Wingate test data with the lactate threshold test and average power rates for the sampled sport groups (М±SD, min-max)

The intra-group (discipline-specific) comparisons of the lactate threshold test and average power test data found significant differences between the Russian Championships and European and World Championship medalists (p <0.05); and between the futsal age groups (p <0.05). The cross-country skiing groups, however, showed insignificant skill-specific differences (p> 0.05). Moreover, the average power differences were found insignificant for the sports groups on the whole (p> 0.05).

The lactate threshold test and average power rates were expectedly high for the speed skating groups; and the lactate threshold test rates were also high for the cross-country WCMS, whilst the younger and less skilled skiers were tested with the lower lactate threshold test rates (under 16 W/ kg). It should be noted that the relatively high speed-strength qualities may not always guarantee success in modern cross-country ski races. Thus the long-distance ski racers were tested with the relatively low lactate threshold test and high speed-strength endurance test rates (with average power = 9.31).

The RG test data and analysis give the reasons for the following findings: (1) lactate threshold test rates under 10 W/ kg are unusual for the sporting individuals (even amateurs); and (2) untrained people may be tested high on the lactate threshold test scale and low on the speed-strength endurance scale.

The correlation analysis found significant correlations of the lactate threshold test and average power test rates for the world-class mixed martial arts competitors (r = 0.89, p <0.01); 21-minus-year-old futsal players (r = 0.498 , p <0.05); their 21+ peers (r = 0.69, p <0.01); WCMS skiers (r = 0.814, p <0.01); CMS/ MS skiers (r = 0.805, p <0.05); and for the sporting RG subgroup (r = 0.547, p <0.01). No correlations were found for the football group (r = 0.346, p> 0.05); and for the Russian-level mixed martial arts group (r = 0.319, p> 0.05).

Conclusion. The study found the highest speed-strength endurance test rates in the speed skating, football, judo and world-class cross-country skiing subsamples – versus the relatively low speed-strength endurance rates in the mixed martial arts subsample.

The study was supported by Research Contract #02.A03.21.0006 endorsed by the RF Government Decree # 211.

References

1. Driss T., Vandewalle H. The Measurement of Maximal (Anaerobic) Power Output on a Cycle Ergometer: A Critical Review. BioMed Research International. 2013. Vol. 2013. P. 40. DOI: 10.1155/2013/589361
2. Inbar O., Bar-Or O., Skinner J.S., The Wingate Anaerobic Test. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 1996.
3. Nikolaidis P.T., Matos B., Clemente F.M. et al. Normative Data of the Wingate Anaerobic Test in 1 Year Age Groups of Male Soccer Players. Front Physiol. 2018. Vol. 9. pp. 1–7. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01619
4. Zakharova A., Berdnikova A., Mekhdieva K. Testing of power abilities in high level soccer players: Quantitive and qualitive assessment methods.  Ed. Vilas-Boas J.P., Cabri J., Pezarat-Correia P., Rivera O. icSPORTS 2018 – Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support. SciTePress. 2018. pp. 111-118.

Corresponding author: kamilia_m@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze and compare the Wingate Test rates in elite athletes of different specializations.

Methods and structure of the study. Sampled for the study were the 17-35 year-old elite athletes (n=129) of different specializations: football (n=29), futsal (n=32), cross-country skiing (n=27), mixed martial arts (n=29), track and field sports (n=3), speed skating (n=3), judo (n=6). The study was conducted according to the standard Wingate test protocol. The subjects ran Monark Ergomedic 894E Peak Bike. Their maximal alactate power and average power rates were determined. 

Results of the study and conclusions. The study revealed statistically significant differences between the maximal alactate power rates in the world-class and Russian mixed martial arts fighters (11.36±1.39 W/kg and 12.22±0.89 W/kg, p<0.05), in the futsal players of different age subgroups (14.13±1.32 W/kg and 14.82±1.1 W/kg, p<0.05). In the subgroups of the skiers of different qualification levels, no statistically significant differences were found (12.98±1.61 W/kg and 13.18±0.59 W/kg, p>0.05). The highest maximal alactate power and speed-strength endurance rates were observed in the speed skaters, futsal and football players (from 14 W/kg to 17.45 W/kg). The average power rates were virtually the same in the athletes of all specializations.