VALIDITY OF A NEW RECLINE CYCLE ERGOMETER USING THE WINGATE ANAEROBIC CYCLE TEST

The Wingate test is a valid and reliable means to measure anaerobic power using an upright cycle ergometer. No protocols exist for measuring of anaerobic power on a recline cycle ergometer. PURPOSE: We assessed the validity of a new recline cycle ergometer for the anaerobic Wingate test against a previously validated upright cycle ergometer. METHODS: Participants (n=3 males and n=6 females, age 20.44±0.72 years) completed Wingate tests (maximal effort for 30 sec, resistance at 7.5% of the participant’s weight) on both the upright cycle ergometer and the new recline ergometer with the same protocol. Heart rate (HR), Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), peak blood lactate (BL), peak power (PP) and total work (TW) were recorded for each participant and compared across ergometers using linear least squares regression and paired t-tests (=0.05 for all tests). RESULTS: PP and TW were significantly correlated across cycle models (r = 0.860, p \u3c 0.05 and r = 0.957, p \u3c 0.05 respectively). However, only modest and non-significant correlations were found for measures of exertion between modalities: HR (r=0.499), RPE (r=0.363), and BL(r= 0.499). Interestingly, even though the measures of maximal effort were not significantly different across bike model, maximal effort was not always achieved by participants when on the recline ergometer. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the recline ergometer is valid as a means for Wingate anaerobic testing in terms of peak power and total work but the results cannot be compared to the upright cycle ergometer