Validity and Reliability of a New Specific Parkour Test: Physiological and Performance Responses

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Assessing repeated sprint ability (RSA) in sports requires specific tests that reflect the demands of the discipline.
• Parkour involves complex movements and obstacle negotiation, necessitating a sport-specific RSA test.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate and establish the reliability and sensitivity of a new Parkour-specific repeated sprint ability (SPRSA) test.
• To assess the physiological and performance responses to the SPRSA test in high-level Parkour athletes.

Main Methods:

• Thirteen elite Parkour athletes performed the SPRSA test twice, alongside seven established fitness tests.
• Variables assessed included sprint times, core stability, grip strength, jumping ability, pull-ups, and aerobic capacity (VO2 max estimation).
• Statistical analyses included intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson correlations, and principal component analysis (PCA).

Main Results:

• The SPRSA test demonstrated excellent reliability (ICC: 0.991-0.998) and high sensitivity (smallest worthwhile change: 0.29-0.68%).
• SPRSA performance (total and peak time) strongly correlated with core stability, jumping, pull-up, anaerobic capacity (300-m shuttle run), and VO2 max.
• PCA revealed four components explaining 90.2% of the variance in the 23 assessed variables.

Conclusions:

• The SPRSA test exhibits excellent logical and ecological validity, establishing it as a suitable field test for Parkour.
• Its high reliability and sensitivity support its use in monitoring, evaluating, and programming training for Parkour practitioners.
• The SPRSA test effectively measures repeated sprint ability in a context that mimics Parkour's obstacle-negotiating demands.