Performance indices selection for assessing anaerobic power during a 30 second vertical jump test

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• The 30-second Bosco vertical jump test (VJT) is a common field test for assessing lower body power.
• The 30-second Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) is a gold standard for evaluating anaerobic capacity and power output.
• Assessing the validity of VJT performance indices against WAnT is crucial for accurate performance evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity of jump height (h), absolute (VPOWERABS), and relative (VPOWERREL) power indices from a modified 30-second VJT.
• To compare these VJT indices against absolute (WPOWERABS) and relative (WPOWERREL) power values derived from a 30-second WAnT.

Main Methods:

• Nineteen physical education students (age 21 ± 3 years) performed a 30-second VJT on a force plate and a 30-second WAnT on a cycle ergometer.
• Performance data were analyzed for the entire 30-second duration and four 7.5-second intervals.
• Key metrics included jump height (cm), absolute power (W), and power relative to body mass (W·kg⁻¹).

Main Results:

• Absolute power (WPOWERABS) from the WAnT was significantly correlated with jump height (h) across all time intervals of the VJT (r=0.36–0.51).
• Absolute power (VPOWERABS) from the VJT showed a significant correlation with WPOWERABS only in the initial 0–7.5 second interval (r=0.48).
• No significant correlations were found for relative power indices between the two tests.

Conclusions:

• The 30-second VJT is a valid measure against the 30-second WAnT when jump height (h) is used as the primary performance index.
• The choice of measurement unit is critical for accurately assessing effort distribution during short-duration, maximal-effort tests.
• Jump height appears to be a more reliable indicator of anaerobic power compared to calculated power in the VJT when compared to the WAnT.