Application of the Ballroom Aerobic Test protocol for assessing performance in standard-style dancesport athletes

Although the existing field-based tests to assess functional capacity in dancesport have been developed, most of them have been applied to ballet or contemporary dancesport athletes at the individual level, while little evidence is available for dancesport couples in standard dance disciplines. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability and usefulness of the progressive Ballroom Aerobic Test (BAT) protocol for assessing aerobic performance.

Thirteen standard dancesport athletes (six pairs and one individual male participant; age: 20.1 ± 3.8 years; height: 175.0 ± 8.2 cm; weight: 64.3 ± 9.7 kg; males; age: 19.9 ± 3.7 years; height: 180.0 ± 4.7 cm; weight: 70.2 ± 8.7 kg; body mass index: 21.5 ± 1.8 kg/m2 training experience: 8.6 ± 5.1 years; females; age: 20.3 ± 4.0 years; height: 168.5 ± 6.5 cm; weight: 57.5 ± 5.5 kg; body mass index: 20.2 ± 1.3 kg/m²; training experience: 8.5 ± 3.4 years) took part in the study. All participants were members of certified dancesport clubs who competed at national and international levels. The BAT protocol consisted of five stages, each corresponding to one of five standard dancesport disciplines (English Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese Waltz, and Quickstep). A test-retest design, with one week between trials, was used to examine the reliability measures. Ventilatory and metabolic parameters were derived from MetaMax^® 3B, a reliable and valid portable gas analyzer. Reliability measures included Cohen D effect size (ES), intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV), typical error (TE) and smallest worthwhile change (SWC).

No significant differences were observed between test and retest sessions (P > 0.05). ESs ranged from trivial to small (0.00-0.47) with 'very good' to 'excellent' reliability (ICC = 0.80-0.99; CV = 1.63-4.85%). The usefulness of the BAT protocol was generally rated as 'ok' to 'good' for speed (TE = 2.76; SWC = 3.20; <), absolute VO₂ (TE = 0.14; SWC = 0.15; <), respiratory exchange ratio (RER; TE = 0.02; SWC = 0.02; =), tidal volume (VT = 0.06; SWC = 0.06; =), and dead space to tidal volume ratio (VD/VT; TE = 0.01; SWC = 0.01; =).

Current findings suggest that the BAT protocol is a reliable and useful tool for assessing aerobic capacity in standard-style dancesport athletes. Moreover, the BAT protocol can accurately detect meaningful individual changes, particularly for speed (3.20 bpm), absolute VO₂ (0.15 L*min^-1), and VE (4.87 L). These results may assist athletes and strength and conditioning coaches in monitoring and tracking 'real' time changes to optimize the training process.