Validity of the Running Anaerobic Sprint Test for Assessing Anaerobic Power and Predicting Short-Distance Performances

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the running anaerobic sprint test (RAST) in anaerobic assessment and predicting short-distance performance. Forty members of the armed forces were recruited for this study (age 19.78 +/- 1.18 years; body mass 70.34 +/- 8.10 kg; height 1.76 +/- 0.53 m; body fat 15.30 +/- 5.65 %). The RAST test was applied to six 35-meter maximal running performances with a 10-second recovery between each run; the peak power, mean power, and the fatigue index were measured. The study was divided in two stages. The first stage investigated the reliability of the RAST using a test-retest method; the second stage aimed to evaluate the validity of the RAST comparing the results with the Wingate test and running performances of 35, 50, 100, 200, and 400 m. There were not significant differences between test-retest scores in the first stage of the study (p > 0.05) and were found significant correlations between these variables (intraclass correlation coefficient approximately = 0.88). The RAST had significant correlations with the Wingate test (peak power r = 0.46; mean power r = 0.53; fatigue index r = 0.63) and 35, 50, 100, 200, and 400 m performances scores (p < 0.05). The advantage of using the RAST for measuring anaerobic power is that it allows for the execution of movements more specific to sporting events that use running as the principal style of locomotion, is easily applied and low cost, and due to its simplicity can easily be incorporated into routine training. We concluded that this procedure is reliable and valid, and can be used to measure running anaerobic power and predict short-distance performances.

Differences of muscular performance between professional and young basketball players

“…It would seem that professional players have higher levels of VO 2max , anaerobic threshold and running economy than young elite players (Angius et al, 2012;Faff et al, 2000;Millet & Bentley, 2004). One possible reason to account for the differences in vertical jump loss after the RAST test, which is a test with a high anaerobic component (Zagatto et al, 2009), might be that the professional players can perform this test with a lower percentage of their anaerobic threshold; therefore, the post-RAST fatigue index would influence the vertical jump test to a lesser extent. However, as we have d e p o r t e not found any study, in the literature, analyzing the relationship between aerobic and anaerobic capacities and vertical jump loss in professional and young basketball players, it would be interesting to study these assumptions in depth.…”

“…Pre-testing was conducted after the players completed a standardized 10-minute warm-up, including jogging, running technique, joint mobility and dynamic stretching. The players performed the test in the following order: (a) vertical jump CMJ with arm swing, participants being required to perform 3 trials, and mean height being scored in centimeters (cm), (b) repeated sprint test RAST (Zagatto et al, 2009), consisting of 6 maximum 35 m sprints with 10 seconds recovery between each sprint, and (c) vertical jump CMJ with arm swing with the same protocol as before. The players were told to run each sprint and execute each jump at maximum effort.…”

“…Numerous tests have been designed to assess the RSA in accordance with the team sport concerned (Bishop et al, 2011;Dawson, 2012;Girard, Mendez-Villanueva, & Bishop, 2011), but the Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) is yet to prevail. It has been validated and proposed as an alternative to the Wingate test for measuring the power output during a race (Adamczyk, 2011;Kaminagakura et al, 2012;Zagatto, Beck, & Gobatto, 2009). Vertical jump is a fundamental basketball skill, in view of the very nature of this sport (Abdelkrim et al, 2010;Korkmaz & Karahan, 2012;Scanlan, Dascombe, Reaburn, & Dalbo, 2012).…”

Analysis of high-intensity efforts in brazilian professional soccer players

“…this quantification is extremely important to a better understanding of players' physical actions during a match. Furthermore, the majority of the existing tests to evaluate the physical capacity of soccer players, such as the Yo-Yo [28] and running Anaerobic Sprint test [29], allow a short period of active recovery but require players to start in the steady position.…”

“…Another feature that should be discussed is the recovery time between efforts, once the recoveries in the evaluation tests range from 10 to 25 s [28,29]. Players performed the average of only 2.4 HIEs during a game with the recovery time 10-30 s. However, they did not perform them consecutively as tests assess them.…”