scholarly journals The Test–Retest Reliability of Force Plate–Derived Parameters of the Countermovement Push-Up as a Power Assessment Tool

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma N. Parry ◽  
Lee C. Herrington ◽  
Ian G. Horsley

Context: Muscular power output of the upper limb is a key aspect of athletic and sporting performance. Maximal power describes the ability to immediately produce power with maximal velocity at the point of release, impact, or takeoff, with research highlighting that the greater an athlete’s ability to produce maximal power, the greater the improvement in athletic performance. Despite the importance of upper-limb power for athletic performance, there is presently no gold-standard test for upper-limb force development performance. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the test–retest reliability of force plate–derived measures of the countermovement push-up in active males. Design: Test–retest design. Setting: Controlled laboratory. Participants: Physically active college athletes (age 24 [3] y, height 1.79 [0.08] m, body mass 81.7 [9.9] kg). Intervention: Subjects performed 3 repetitions of maximal effort countermovement push-up trials on Kistler force plates on 2 separate test occasions 7 days apart. Main Outcome Measures: Peak force, mean force, flight time, rate of force development, and impulse were analyzed from the force–time curve. Results: No significant differences between the 2 trial occasions were observed for any of the derived performance measures. Intraclass correlation coefficient and within-subject coefficient of variation calculations indicated performance measures to have moderate to very high reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .88–.98), coefficient of variation = 5.5%–14.1%). Smallest detectable difference for peak force (7.5%), mean force (8.6%), and rate of force development (11.2%) were small to moderate. Conclusion: Force platform–derived kinetic parameters of countermovement push-up are reliable measurements of power in college-level athletes.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Gemma N. Parry ◽  
Lee C. Herrington ◽  
Ian G. Horsley ◽  
Ian Gatt

Context: Maximal power describes the ability to immediately produce power with the maximal velocity at the point of release, impact, and/or take off—the greater an athlete’s ability to produce maximal power, the greater the improvement of athletic performance. In reference to boxing performance, regular consistent production of high muscular power during punching is considered an essential prerequisite. Despite the importance of upper limb power to athletic performance, presently, there is no gold standard test for upper limb force development performance. Objective: To investigate the test–retest reliability of the force plate–derived measures of countermovement push-up in elite boxers. Design: Test–retest design. Setting: High Performance Olympic Training Center. Participants: Eighteen elite Olympic boxers (age = 23 [3] y; height = 1.68 [0.39] m; body mass = 70.0 [17] kg). Intervention: Participants performed 5 repetitions of countermovement push-up trials on FD4000 Forcedeck dual force platforms on 2 separate test occasions 7 days apart. Main Outcome Measures: Peak force, mean force, flight time, rate of force development, impulse, and vertical stiffness of the bilateral and unilateral limbs from the force–time curve. Results: No significant differences between the 2 trial occasions for any of the derived bilateral or unilateral performance measures. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderate to high reliability for performance parameters (intraclass correlation coefficients = .68–.98) and low coefficient of variation (3%–10%) apart from vertical stiffness (coefficient of variation = 16.5%–25%). Mean force demonstrated the greatest reliability (coefficient of variation = 3%). In contrast, no significant differences (P < .001) were noted between left and right limbs (P = .005–.791), or between orthodox or southpaw boxing styles (P = .19–.95). Conclusion: Force platform–derived kinetic bilateral and unilateral parameters of countermovement push-up are reliable measures of upper limb power performance in elite-level boxers; results suggest unilateral differences within the bilateral condition are not the norm for an elite boxing cohort.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan T. O’Keeffe ◽  
Alan E. Donnelly ◽  
Ciaran MacDonncha

Purpose: To examine the test–retest reliability of student-administered (SA) health-related fitness tests in school settings and to compare indices of reliability with those taken by trained research-assistants. Methods: Participants (n = 86; age: 13.43 [0.33] y) were divided into 2 groups, SA (n = 45, girls = 26) or research-assistant administered (RA; n = 41, girls = 21). The SA group had their measures taken by 8 students (age: 15.59 [0.56] y, girls = 4), and the RA group had their measures taken by 8 research-assistants (age: 21.21 [1.38], girls = 5). Tests were administered twice by both groups, 1 week apart. Tests included body mass index, handgrip strength, standing broad jump, isometric plank hold, 90° push-up, 4 × 10-m shuttle run, back-saver sit and reach, and blood pressure. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients for SA (≥.797) and RA (≥.866) groups were high, and the observed systematic error (Bland–Altman plot) between test 1 and test 2 was close to 0 for all tests. The coefficient of variation was less than 10% for all tests in the SA group, aside from the 90° push-up (24.3%). The SA group had a marginally lower combined mean coefficient of variation across all tests (6.5%) in comparison with the RA group (6.8%). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that, following familiarization training, SA health-related fitness tests in school-based physical education programs can be considered reliable.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Jamon Couch ◽  
Marc Sayers ◽  
Tania Pizzari

Context: An imbalance between shoulder internal rotation (IR) and external rotation (ER) strength in athletes is proposed to increase the risk of sustaining a shoulder injury. Hand-held (HHD) and externally fixed dynamometry are reliable forms of assessing shoulder IR and ER strength. A new externally fixed device with an attachable fixed upper-limb mold (The ForceFrame) exists; however, its reliability in measuring shoulder strength is yet to be investigated. Objective: To determine the test–retest reliability of the ForceFrame, with and without the fixed upper-limb mold, in the assessment of shoulder IR and ER strength, as compared with HHD. Design: Test–retest reliability study. Setting: Laboratory, clinical. Participants: Twenty-two healthy and active individuals were recruited from the university community and a private physiotherapy practice. Main Outcome Measures: Maximal isometric shoulder IR and ER strength was measured using the ForceFrame and traditional HHD in neutral and at 90° shoulder abduction. Mean (SD) strength measures were calculated. Test–retest reliability was analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficients (3, 1). The SEM and minimal detectable change were calculated. Results: Good to excellent test–retest reliability was found for all shoulder strength tests across Hand-held dynamometry (HHD) and externally fixed dynamometry (EFD) are reliable forms (intraclass correlation coefficients [3, 1] = .854–.916). The minimal detectable changes ranged between 25.61 and 41.84 N across tests. Test–retest reliability was not affected by the dynamometer or testing position. Conclusions: The results from this study indicate that both the ForceFrame and HHD are suitable for measuring shoulder strength in clinical practice. The use of the fixed upper-limb mold with the ForceFrame does not improve reliability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-233
Author(s):  
Chi Ngai Lo ◽  
◽  
Ting-Ting Yeh ◽  
Chek Tien Tan ◽  
Eric W. Tsang ◽  
...  

Introduction: The use of tele-rehabilitation devices to aid physiotherapy has gained popularity in recent years. In particular, measuring limb range of motion with a wearable mobile sensor can facilitate rehabilitation therapies by providing more efficient progress monitoring and reducing clinicians’ workload. This study aimed to examine the test-retest reliability and validity of using a wearable mobile sensor to measure upper limb range of motion (ROM). Materials and methods: Participants were recruited by convenient sampling. They were instructed to perform four kinds of upper limb movements including shoulder flexion, abduction, external rotation and elbow flexion, from which the ROM was measured by Mobile sensors REBEE (XCLR8 Technologies) and a standard goniometer (Model 12-1000) in each movement. Each kind of movements and the two ROM measurements were performed twice for the evaluation of test-retest reliability using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC). Pearson's correlations were computed between the ROM measured by the mobile sensors and the goniometer in each movement to assess construct validities of the mobile sensors. The agreement (95% mean difference) between the two sets of measurement was illustrated by Bland-Altman plots. Results: Thirty-four asymptomatic young Asian adults (15 males) participated in this study (Mage ± SD, 24.2 ± 3.82 years). The ICC for the ROM measured by the sensors were between 0.94 and 0.99, p <0.01 and for the goniometer measurements were between 0.95 and 0.98, p <0.01 in the four movements, indicating excellent reliability in both measurement methods. The Pearson's correlation between the sensor’s and goniometric ROM measurements in four kinds of movements ranged from r =0.96 to 0.99, p <0.01, indicating a very strong construct validity for using the mobile sensors to measure upper limb ROM. The mean difference between the two measurements ranged from 0.13 degrees to 7.6 degrees. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that measuring upper limb ROM using the mobile sensors by non-healthcare trained students were as reliable and valid as using the standard universal goniometers by healthcare trained students. The findings implied that the wearable mobile sensors possibly allow non-healthcare trained carers to measure clinically useful, reliable and valid upper limb ROM from patients, which may facilitate symptom monitoring and improve the efficiency of the rehabilitation process.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Duncan ◽  
Darren Richardson ◽  
Rhys Morris ◽  
Emma Eyre ◽  
Neil D. Clarke

The present study examined the test–retest reliability of the Ghent University dribbling test and short dribble test in a pediatric population. Fifty-four boys aged 9–14 years (mean ± SD = 11 ± 2 years) undertook the Ghent University and dribbling tests on two occasions separated by 2 weeks. Intraclass correlation coefficients, coefficient of variation, and 95% limits of agreement were conducted for each test. Intraclass correlation coefficients and coefficient of variation indicated good to excellent reliability, and relatively small variability for both dribbling tests. The 95% limits of agreement indicated relatively little bias Ghent University dribbling test for both running alone and running with the ball components, and the Bangsbo and Mohr short dribble test. The results of the present study suggest both dribbling tests examined in the present study demonstrate good reliability and low levels of systematic bias.


Motor Control ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lazar Tomic ◽  
Danica Janicijevic ◽  
Aleksandar Nedeljkovic ◽  
Bojan Leontijevic ◽  
Amador García-Ramos

Reliability and sensitivity of reaction time (RT) during quasi-realistic soccer situations was explored in 10 professional soccer players (skilled; age = 20.9 ± 3.6 years) and 10 males without soccer experience (nonskilled; age = 23.4 ± 0.5 years). The participants were instructed to react as fast as possible to a stimulus presented via the video-based method while standing on force platforms. RT was computed as the difference between the instant when the rate of force development of any leg reaches 5% of its maximal value and the instant of stimulus presentation. The results revealed acceptable to high reliability of RT (intraclass correlation coefficient median = .90; coefficient of variation ≤ 5.83%), and shorter RT for skilled compared with nonskilled participants in three out of eight comparisons (effect size range = 1.00–1.41). The video-based methods can be confidently used to assess the RT in soccer players.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (08) ◽  
pp. 498-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wilfred Navalta ◽  
Jeffrey Montes ◽  
Nathaniel G. Bodell ◽  
Charli D. Aguilar ◽  
Kara Radzak ◽  
...  

AbstractFootpod monitors are wearable devices attaching to the shoe with the ability to sense oscillations in leg movement; however, few studies provide reliability. The purpose was to provide reliability data for outdoor tasks as measured by the Stryd Power Meter, which is a footpod monitor. Young healthy individuals (N=20, male n=12, female n=8) completed two 5-min self-paced walks along a trail, and two 5-min trail runs. Reliability of the tasks was determined using Coefficient of Variation (CV), Intraclass Correlation (ICC), and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Measures during trail running that returned a CV less than 10%, met the ICC threshold of 0.70, and displayed good to excellent 95% CI included pace, average elapsed power, average elapsed form power, average elapsed leg spring, and vertical oscillation. The only variable during walking to meet these criteria was maximal power (CV=4.02%, ICC=0.968, CI=0.902, 0.989). Running tasks completed on a trail generally return more consistent measures for variables that can be obtained from the Stryd footpod device than walking tasks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Dello Iacono ◽  
Stephanie Valentin ◽  
Mark Sanderson ◽  
Israel Halperin

Purpose: To investigate the test–retest reliability and criterion validity of the isometric horizontal push test (IHPT), a newly designed test that selectively measures the horizontal component of maximal isometric force. Methods: Twenty-four active males with ≥3 years of resistance training experience performed 2 testing sessions of the IHPT, separated by 3 to 4 days of rest. In each session, subjects performed 3 maximal trials of the IHPT with 3 minutes of rest between them. The peak force outputs were collected simultaneously using a strain gauge and the criterion equipment consisting of a floor-embedded force plate. Results: The test–retest reliability of peak force values was nearly perfect (intraclass correlation coefficient = ∼.99). Bland–Altman analysis showed excellent agreement between days with nearly no bias for strain gauge 1.2 N (95% confidence interval [CI], −3 to 6 N) and force plate 0.8 N (95% CI, −4 to 6 N). A nearly perfect correlation was observed between the strain gauge and force plate (r = .98, P < .001), with a small bias of 8 N (95% CI, 1.2 to 15 N) in favor of the force plate. The sensitivity of the IHPT was also good, with smallest worthwhile change greater than standard error of measurement for both the strain gauge (smallest worthwhile change: 29 N; standard error of measurement: 17 N; 95% CI, 14 to 20 N) and the force plate (smallest worthwhile change: 29 N; standard error of measurement: 18 N; 95% CI, 14 to 19 N) devices. Conclusions: The high degree of validity, reliability, and sensitivity of the IHPT, coupled with its affordability, portability, ease of use, and time efficacy, point to the potential of the test for assessment and monitoring purposes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Comfort ◽  
Paul. A. Jones ◽  
John J. McMahon ◽  
Robert Newton

The isometric midthigh pull (IMTP) has been used to monitor changes in force, maximum rate of force development (mRFD), and impulse, with performance in this task being associated with performance in athletic tasks. Numerous postures have been adopted in the literature, which may affect the kinetic variables during the task; therefore, the aim of this investigation was to determine whether different knee-joint angles (120°, 130°, 140°, and 150°) and hip-joint angles (125° and 145°), including the subjects preferred posture, affect force, mRFD, and impulse during the IMTP. Intraclass correlation coefficients demonstrated high within-session reliability (r ≥ .870, P < .001) for all kinetic variables determined in all postures, excluding impulse measures during the 130° knee-flexion, 125° hip-flexion posture, which showed a low to moderate reliability (r = .666–.739, P < .001), while between-sessions testing demonstrated high reliability (r > .819, P < .001) for all kinetic variables. There were no significant differences in peak force (P > .05, Cohen d = 0.037, power = .408), mRFD (P > .05, Cohen d = 0.037, power = .409), or impulse at 100 ms (P > .05, Cohen d = 0.056, power = .609), 200 ms (P > .05, Cohen d = 0.057, power = .624), or 300 ms (P > .05, Cohen d = 0.061, power = .656) across postures. Smallest detectable differences demonstrated that changes in performance of >1.3% in peak isometric force, >10.3% in mRFD, >5.3% in impulse at 100 ms, >4.4% in impulse at 200 ms, and >7.1% in impulse at 300 ms should be considered meaningful, irrespective of posture.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Sylcott ◽  
Chia-Cheng Lin ◽  
Keith Williams ◽  
Mark Hinderaker

BACKGROUND Accurately measuring postural sway is an important part of balance assessment and rehabilitation. While force plates give accurate measurements, their cost and space requirements make their use impractical in many situations. OBJECTIVE The work presented here is aimed at addressing this issue by validating a virtual reality (VR) headset as a relatively low-cost alternative for postural sway measurement. The HTC Vive (VR) headset has built-in sensors that allow for position and orientation tracking making it a potentially effective tool for balance assessments. METHODS Participants in this study were asked to stand upright on a force plate (Neurocom platform) while wearing the HTC ViveTM. Position data was collected from the headset and force plate simultaneously as participants experienced a custom-built VR environment that covered their entire field of view. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was used to examined the test-retest reliability on the postural control variables, including normalized path length (NPL), root-mean-square (RMS), and peak-to-peak (P2P), computed from the VR position output and the center of pressure (COP) data from the force plate. Liner regression were used to investigate the correlation between the VR and force plate measurements. RESULTS Results showed that the test-retest reliability of VR headset was similar to COP in RMS and P2P, ranging from .285 to .636 in VR and .228 to .759. Linear regression between VR and COP measures showed significant correlation in RMS and P2P. CONCLUSIONS Based on our results, the VR headset has potential for use in postural control measurements. However, further development of software and testing protocols for balance assessments is needed.


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