The 5 min running field test: test and retest reliability on trained men and women

The repeatability of the maximal aerobic velocity ( v(amax)) estimated using the 5 min running field test (5(RFT)) has been examined in an heterogeneous population of 132 subjects distributed in five groups considering their sporting activities, their competition levels and their physical fitness levels: among them were national and local runners, rugby players, and multi-sport women and men. To establish the test and retest reliability, all the subjects took part in the 5(RFT) twice within 3 weeks. After the normality of distributions had been assessed using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov's test, a Student's paired t-test showed no difference between the two trials in all groups except that of the national runners. A heterogeneous group was then constituted from the other subjects, and this took part in the reliability study. Intraclass correlation coefficients calculated from a one-way ANOVA on the performances achieved by each group in both tests ranged from 0.94 to 0.98. The standard errors of measurement (SEM) of the 5(RFT) ranged from 0.95% (13 m) to 1.89% (20 m), which correspond to errors of 0.15 km.h(-1) and 0.34 km.h(-1) in the v(amax), respectively. These results indicate that the 5(RFT) is reliable when used in homogeneous groups with various characteristics as well as in a heterogeneous population. Moreover, the results of this study have shown that the 5(RFT) is reliable for estimating v(amax) from only one trial, since the intraclass correlation coefficients for one trial ranged from 0.88 to 0.96, which is of particular interest to coaches. Nevertheless, further studies would be necessary to evaluate the repeatability of this test in other populations such as school children and adults of both sexes having different characteristics.