ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2019 February;59(2):230-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.18.08105-7

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Test-retest reliability and criterion validity of a new Taekwondo Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test

Amel TAYECH ^{1, 2}, Mohamed A. MEJRI ^{1, 2}, Helmi CHAABENE ¹, Mehdi CHAOUACHI ^{1, 3}, David G. BEHM ⁴, Anis CHAOUACHI ^{1, 5} ✉

¹ Tunisian Research Laboratory “Sports Performance Optimization,” National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia; ² High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Ksar-Saïd, Manouba University, Tunis, Tunisia; ³ Movement Sport and Health Sciences Laboratory, University of Rennes 2-ENS Cachan, Rennes, France; ⁴ School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada; ⁵ AUT University, Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the relative and absolute test-retest reliability and criterion validity of a new Taekwondo Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT).
METHODS: Twenty Tunisian elite Taekwondo athletes participated in this study (15 males and 5 females). Participants performed the TAIKT and the Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST), twice (test and retest), on separate occasions three-week apart. Peak heart rate (HRpeak), blood lactate concentration [La־], and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during each session.
RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the test and retest of TAIKT and RAST for all performances and physiological variables, except for the absolute mean power (Pmean) of RAST. Test-retest results showed that the TAIKT and RAST were reliable. All TAIKT and RAST parameters had an ICC>0.90, SEM<5%, with the smallest worthwhile change slightly higher than SEM, with very small limits of concordance. Strong significant correlations were found between TAIKT and RAST parameters (Ppeak (r=0.81; r=0.70), Pmean (r=0.72; r=0.60) in (W and W·Kg-67 respectively), fatigue index (r=0.81), [La־] (r=0.89) and RPE (r=0.78) at P<0.01, and HRpeak (r=0.55, at P<0.05)).
CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that the TAIKT can be considered as a valid and reliable specific test for assessing anaerobic power of Taekwondo athletes.

KEY WORDS: Exercise test - Running - Martial arts - Athletic performance