ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Validation of a field test for the non-invasive determination of badminton specific aerobic performance

M Wonisch¹, P Hofmann², G Schwaberger³, S P von Duvillard⁴, W Klein¹

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
² Institute of Sports Sciences, University of Graz
³ Department of Physiology, University of Graz
⁴ Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Wonisch, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, A-8036 Graz, Austria;
manfred.wonisch{at}uni-graz.at

Aim: To develop a badminton specific test to determine on court aerobic and anaerobic performance.

Method: The test was evaluated by using a lactate steady state test. Seventeen male competitive badminton players (mean (SD) age 26 (8) years, weight 74 (10) kg, height 179 (7) cm) performed an incremental field test on the badminton court to assess the heart rate turn point (HRTP) and the individual physical working capacity (PWC_i) at 90% of measured maximal heart rate (HR_max). All subjects performed a 20 minute steady state test at a workload just below the PWC_i.

Results: Significant correlations (p<0.05) for Pearson’s product moment coefficient were found between the two methods for HR (r = 0.78) and velocity (r = 0.93). The HR at the PWC_i (176 (5.5) beats/min) was significantly lower than the HRTP (179 (5.5) beats/min), but no significant difference was found for velocity (1.44 (0.3) m/s, 1.38 (0.4) m/s). The constant exercise test showed steady state conditions for both HR (175 (9) beats/min) and blood lactate concentration (3.1 (1.2) mmol/l).

Conclusion: The data indicate that a valid determination of specific aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance for the sport of badminton is possible without HRTP determination.

Keywords: lactate steady state; physical working capacity; heart rate performance curve; heart rate turn point; anaerobic threshold

Abbreviations: AT, anaerobic threshold; MLSS, maximal lactate steady state; HR, heart rate; HR_max, heart rate maximum; HRTP, heart rate turn point; PWC_i, individual physical working capacity; LA, blood lactate concentration

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