Open AccessA new taekwondo-specific field test for estimating aerobic power, anaerobic fitness, and agility performance
Author(s) -
Behzad Taati,
Hamid Arazi,
Craig A. Bridge,
Émerson Franchini
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0264910
Subject(s) - anaerobic exercise , wingate test , multi stage fitness test , vo2 max , treadmill , test (biology) , mathematics , sprint , aerobic capacity , statistics , heart rate , zoology , physical therapy , physical fitness , medicine , biology , ecology , blood pressure
The present study aimed to propose a new multidimensional taekwondo-specific test to estimate aerobic power, anaerobic fitness, and agility. Out of sixty-five male volunteers, forty-six, forty-eight, and fifty athletes (18–35 years; black- and red-belt level) were included in the final analysis for aerobic, anaerobic, and agility assessments, respectively. Maximum oxygen uptake (VO 2max , using a graded exercise test on a treadmill), anaerobic power (using the 30-s Wingate anaerobic test, WAnT), and agility performance (using the agility T-Test) were measured via non-specific laboratory and field tests across a two-week period. The taekwondo-specific aerobic-anaerobic-agility (TAAA) test comprised six 20-s intervals of shuttle sprints over a 4-m distance, and the execution of roundhouse kicks alternating the legs at the end of each distance, with 10-s rest intervals between the sets. The multiple linear regression revealed that the difference between heart rate (HR) after and 1 minute after the TAAA test ( p < 0.001), and body mass index (BMI; p = 0.006) were significant to estimate VO 2max . Likewise, there was a very large ( R = 0.79) and large ( R = 0.55) correlation between the average and maximum number of kicks performed in the TAAA test and the WAnT mean and peak power, respectively ( p < 0.001). Moreover, a linear relationship was found between the T-Test and agility performance acquired in the TAAA test ( R = 0.74; p < 0.001). The TAAA test can be considered a valid simple tool for monitoring VO 2max , anaerobic fitness, and agility in male taekwondo athletes.