Optimizing the Wingate Anaerobic Cycling Test for youth with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) can assess muscle function in youth with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Our objective was to compare peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) when the WAnT is performed with a standard vs. an optimized braking force. Eight patients with JIA between the ages of 8 and 18 participated in two sessions. Optimal braking force was determined with a series of 15-s force-velocity tests performed against braking forces ranging from 3.5 to 8.5% of body weight. Participants then performed two randomized WAnTs against the standard (4.5%) and optimal braking forces. PP tended to be greater in the optimized vs. standard WAnT (12.5 ± 2.6 vs. 10.8 ± 1.0 W/kg, respectively; p = .07). No differences were observed for MP (standard: 6.2 ± 0.9 vs. optimized: 6.2 ± 1.1 W/kg; p = .9). Optimization of the WAnT tended to increase PP by 10-28% in youth with JIA.