fitnessASSIST

Power testing assesses an athlete’s ability to create power anaerobically (without oxygen). The power one can produce anaerobically is of great importance for sprinters and many activities that involve bursts of high intensity exercise.  It is also important for assessing the peak power output and explosive power relevant for rapid reaction time to drive off the starting blocks in sprinting/swimming. 

The ATP-CP system is the simplest of the body’s energy systems.  A high energy phosphate molecule called phosphocreatine is broken down by the enzyme creatine kinase to produce separate phosphate and creatine molecules. The phosphate molecule is added to ADP to produce ATP, providing a rapid source of energy. 

During the first few seconds of intense muscular activity, such as sprinting, ATP is maintained at a relatively constant level, but the phosphocreatine level declines steadily as a compound is used to replenish the depleted ATP. At exhaustion, however, both ATP and PCr levels are quite low, and fail to provide enough energy for further contractions.

 The ATP and pCr stores can sustain your muscles energy needs for only 3-15 seconds.  The gylcolytic system provides energy through the breakdown of glucose into pyruvic acid by gylcolytic enzymes. The combined actions of the ATP-PC and gycolytic systems allow the muscle to generate force even when the oxygen is limited.  These two systems predominate during the early minutes of high intensity exercise.

A major limitation of anaerobic glycolysis is the accumulation of lactic acid.  The acidosis that then results in the muscle impairs the muscle fibres calcium binding capacity, decreasing the contractibility and force the muscle can produce.  Power testing enables us to analyse the anaerobic capacity, peak power and anaerobic fatigue of the ATP-PC and Gycolytic systems.

Wingate Test

The Wingate test is an excellent means for assessing anaerobic power. The Wingate test was developed at the Wingate Institute in Israel during the 1970's. It assesses the ATP-PC and glycolytic energy systems anaerobic capacity, peak power and anaerobic fatigue.

The protocol consists of the athlete pedalling ‘flat out’ for 30 seconds. A given load is placed in the Monark basket after the first three seconds of cycling. The load consists of 0.075kg per kilogram of body mass. From the test scores we can calculate peak power from the first 5 seconds of pedalling. We can also obtain anaerobic fatigue, relative peak power and anaerobic capacity.