Anaerobic Power Tests
Jan. 15, 2002
We now have the capability to assess upper and lower body anaerobic power with the Wingate test.?
Anaerobic means that work is being performed without oxygen. This test involves a 30 second all-out effort with either the arms or legs on a cycle ergometer.?
Many athletic events involve short bursts of maximal effort utilizing ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and CP (creatine phosphate) as energy. The availability of ATP and CP stores and the ability to rapidly breakdown glycogen is difficult to measure directly. In our laboratory we evaluate this type of metabolism by measuring the anaerobic power and work an athlete can do during the 30 second Wingate test.
From this test we get the athletes peak power, average power, rate of fatigue and total work. This test is very repeatable. This means we can evaluate the athlete several times throughout the year to see the results of specific training periods.??
Blood Lactate Analysis
We now have several portable blood lactate testing kits. Lactate testing can be combined with the anaerobic or aerobic tests described above, or it can be used in the actual playing field while the athlete is performing his/her event. Lactate testing enables you to develop more precise training programs, monitor and evaluate the effect of these training programs, and indicate adjustments that have to be made for each athlete as the training season progresses.
This test requires a small amount of blood from the athlete. In order to aquire this, a small lancet is used to prick the athlete's finger. A small drop of blood is then placed on the test strip and analyzed.
Back To Human Performance Lab Main Page
