Five-meter rope-climbing: a commando-specific power test of the upper limbs

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Human Performance
• Military Fitness

Background:

• Assessing upper-body power is crucial for commando operational readiness.
• Existing power tests may lack specificity or practicality for field deployment.
• The rope-climbing test (RCT) is a commando-specific activity requiring significant upper-body power.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the concurrent validity of the RCT against established strength and power tests.
• To determine the absolute and relative reliabilities of the RCT for commando populations.
• To assess the accuracy of using a stopwatch for measuring RCT execution time.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-one antiterrorism commandos participated in the study.
• Participants completed the RCT alongside pull-ups, push-ups, estimated-1-repetition-maximum, medicine-ball put, and handgrip strength tests.
• Rope-climbing test (RCT) execution time (ET) was measured using both stopwatch and video analysis for validation. Performance was analyzed as absolute power output (APO) and relative power output (RPO).

Main Results:

• Stopwatch measurement of RCT execution time (ET) showed excellent criterion validity (r=.99) and reliability (ICC3,1=.98).
• ET, APO, and RPO demonstrated strong correlations (r=.55-.98) with other power and strength tests, indicating good concurrent validity.
• The RCT exhibited excellent test-retest reliability (ICC3,1>.90) with measurement error (SEM%) below 5% for ET, APO, and RPO.

Conclusions:

• The rope-climbing test (RCT) is a valid and reliable field measure of upper-body power for commandos.
• Its simplicity, ecological relevance, and accurate assessment via stopwatch make it a practical tool for commando training and evaluation.
• The RCT effectively captures commando-specific upper-body power demands.