Familiarization Effects of an Elliptical All-out Test and the Wingate Test Based on Mechanical Power Indices

The Wingate all-out test (WAT) is commonly used to estimate anaerobic capabilities of athletes by using an upper or lower body cycle ergometer, however, a new test modality called elliptical all-out test (EAT) which measures activated whole-body locomotor tasks has recently been proposed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the familiarization effects of a 30-s EAT versus WAT. Twenty male trained athletes performed pre-familiarization (Trial- I), post-familiarization (Trial-II) and retest of Trial-II (Trial-III) sessions on both cycle ergometer and elliptical trainer. Peak power (PP), average power (AP), power drop (PD) and fatigue index ratio (FI%) were analyzed using student's t-test for paired samples and correlated by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Moreover, an error detection procedure was administered using data attained from illogical interrelations among 5-s segments of 30-s tests. The main results showed that there were significant familiarization effects in all mechanical power outputs obtained from Trial-I and Trial-II in both EAT (ICC = 0.49-0.55) and WAT (ICC = 0.50-0.57) performances (p ≤ 0.01). Significant segmental disorders were detected in power production during Trial-I of EAT, however, none existed in any of test trails in the WAT (p ≤ 0.001). After familiarization sessions, reliability coefficients between Trial-II and Trial-III showed moderate to strong-level agreements for both EAT (ICC = 0.74-0.91) and the WAT (ICC=0.76-0.93). Our results suggested that prior to the performance tests, combination of a well designed familiarization session with one full all-out test administration is necessary to estimate the least moderately reliable and accurate test indices for both WAT and EAT. Key PointsA well designed familiarization session, and then, one additional all-out test administration, several days prior to main test, is suggested to estimate more accurate and reliable retest correlations for both cycling and elliptical all-out test modalities.Because of greater muscle recruitment and different movement pattern, familiarization seems more effective for a 30-s all-out test performed on an elliptical trainer compared to a cycle ergometer.