Reliability and validity of an agility‐like incremental exercise test with multidirectional change‐of‐direction movements in response to a visual stimulus

The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of cardiorespiratory and metabolic variables, that is, peak oxygen uptake ( V 'O 2peak ) and heart rate ( HR peak ), obtained from an agility‐like incremental exercise test for team sport athletes. To investigate the test–retest reliability, 25 team sport athletes (age: 22 ± 3 years, body mass: 75 ± 7 kg, height: 182 ± 6 cm) performed an agility‐like incremental exercise test on the SpeedCourt ( SC ) system incorporating multidirectional change‐of‐direction ( COD ) movements twice. For each step of the incremental SC test, the athletes covered a 40‐m distance interspersed with a 10‐sec rest period. Each 40 m distance was split into short sprints (2.25–6.36 m) separated by multidirectional COD movements (0°–180°), which were performed in response to an external visual stimulus. All performance and physiological data were validated with variables obtained from a ramp‐like treadmill and Yo‐Yo intermittent recovery level 2 test (Yo‐Yo IR 2). The incremental SC test revealed high test–retest reliability for the time to exhaustion ( ICC  = 0.85, typical error [ TE ] = 0.44, and CV % = 3.88), V 'O 2peak , HR peak , ventilation, and breathing frequency ( ICC  = 0.84, 0.72, 0.89, 0.77, respectively). The time to exhaustion ( r  =   0.50, 0.74) of the incremental SC test as well as the peak values for V 'O 2 ( r  =   0.59, 0.52), HR ( r  =   0.75, 0.78), ventilation ( r  =   0.57, 0.57), and breathing frequency ( r  =   0.68, 0.68) were significantly correlated ( P  ≤   0.01) with the ramp‐like treadmill test and the Yo‐Yo IR 2, respectively. The incremental SC test represents a reliable and valid method to assess peak values for V 'O 2 and HR with respect to the specific demand of team sport match play by incorporating multidirectional COD movements, decision making, and cognitive components.