Anaerobic Work Capacity derived from isokinetic and isoinertial cycling

The purpose of this study was to compare Anaerobic Work Capacity (AWC) measured on an isoinertial or an isokinetic bicycle ergometer. Twelve male participants completed two randomly ordered exercise testing sessions including a torque-velocity test followed by a 30-s all-out test on an isokinetic ergometer, or a force-velocity test followed by a Wingate Anaerobic Test on an isoinertial ergometer. Optimal load measured during the force-velocity test on the isoinertial ergometer was 1.13+/-0.11 N.kg(-1). Optimal cadence measured during the torque-velocity test on the isokinetic ergometer was 107+/-13 rpm. Although P(peak) measures were significantly correlated (r=0.77), we found a large difference between them (effect size=2.85) together with wide limits of agreement (bias+/-95%LOA=24+/-12%). The same observation was made with P(mean), but with a smaller magnitude of difference (bias+/-95%LOA=4.2+/-12%; effect size=0.51; r=0.73). This lack of agreement led us to the conclusion that AWC measures obtained during 30-s all-out tests performed on an isoinertial or an isokinetic bicycle ergometer are not necessarily similar and cannot be used interchangeably.