AUTHOR=Nikolaidis Pantelis T. , Knechtle Beat 

TITLE=Development and Validation of Prediction Formula of Wingate Test Peak Power From Force–Velocity Test in Male Soccer Players

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729247

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729247

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Peak power of the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT), either in W (Ppeak) or in W.kg<sup>–1</sup> (rPpeak), has been widely used to evaluate the performance of soccer players; however, its relationship with force–velocity (F-v) test (e.g., whether these tests can be used interchangeably) has received little scientific attention so far. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a prediction equation of Ppeak and rPpeak from F-v characteristics in male soccer players. Participants were 158 adult male soccer players (sport experience 11.4 ± 4.5 years, mean ± standard deviation, approximately five weekly training units, age 22.6 ± 3.9 years, body mass 74.8 ± 7.8 kg, and height 178.3 ± 7.8 cm) who performed both WAnT and F-v test. An experimental (EXP, <italic>n</italic> = 79) and a control group (CON, <italic>n</italic> = 79) were used for development and validation, respectively, of the prediction equation of Ppeak and rPpeak from F-v test. In EXP, Ppeak correlated very largely with body mass (<italic>r</italic> = 0.787), fat-free mass (<italic>r</italic> = 0.765), largely with maximal power of F-v test (<italic>P</italic><sub><italic>max</italic></sub>; <italic>r</italic> = 0.639), body mass index (<italic>r</italic> = 0.603), height (<italic>r</italic> = 0.558), moderately with theoretical maximal force (<italic>F</italic><sub>0</sub>; <italic>r</italic> = 0.481), percentage of body fat (<italic>r</italic> = 0.471), fat mass (<italic>r</italic> = 0.443, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); rPpeak correlated with <italic>rP</italic>max (largely; <italic>r</italic> = 0.596, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), theoretical maximal velocity (<italic>v</italic><sub>0</sub>; moderately; <italic>r</italic> = 0.341, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002), <italic>F</italic><sub>0</sub> (small magnitude; <italic>r</italic> = 0.280, <italic>p</italic> = 0.012), BF (<italic>r</italic> = −0.230, <italic>p</italic> = 0.042), and fat mass (<italic>r</italic> = −0.242, <italic>p</italic> = 0.032). Ppeak in EXP could be predicted using the formula “44.251 + 7.431 × body mass (kg) + 0.576 × <italic>P</italic><sub><italic>max</italic></sub> (W) – 19.512 × F<sub>0</sub>” (<italic>R</italic> = 0.912, <italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0.833, standard error of estimate (SEE) = 42.616), and rPpeak from “3.148 + 0.218 × <italic>rP</italic>max (W.kg<sup>–1</sup>) + v0 (rpm)” (<italic>R</italic> = 0.765, <italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0.585, SEE = 0.514). Applying these formulas in CON, no bias was observed between the actual and the predicted Ppeak (mean difference 2.5 ± 49.8 W; 95% CI, −8.7, 13.6; <italic>p</italic> = 0.661) and rPpeak (mean difference 0.05 ± 0.71 W.kg<sup>–1</sup>; 95% CI, −0.11, 0.21, <italic>p</italic> = 0.525). These findings provided indirect estimates of Ppeak of the WAnT, especially useful in periods when this test should not be applied considering the fatigue it causes; in this context, the F-v test can be considered as an alternative of exercise testing for estimating the average Ppeak of a group of soccer players rather than for predicting individual scores when the interindividual variation of performance is small.</p>