Relationship between anaerobic power, vertical jump and aerobic performance in adolescent track and field athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between anaerobic power and vertical jump performance in adolescent athletes. Twenty four track and field athletes participated in this study (mean age: 15.79±0.83 years; height: 166.78±9.77 cm; weight: 57.44±13.42 kg; BMI: 20.45±3.01 kg/m2; body fat percentage (%): 18.80±5.55). The 12 minute Cooper test was performed to estimate VO2max (41.73±6.92 ml/kg.min). After 3-7 days the subjects applied counter movement jump (CMJ) and squat jump (SJ) for the following parameters: (1) the maximum jumping height [SJh and CMJh], (2) the total work produced by the body in each jumping condition [SJw and CMJw: weight (kg) x jump height (m)] and (3) the anaerobic performance [CMJpower and SJpower (kg.m/s): P= ?4.9 x weight (kg) x ?jump height (m)]. The Wingate anaerobic test was applied to determine peak power, average power and fatigue index. The jumping performance variables (height, total work and anaerobic power) and VO2max did not relate significantly to the fatigue index (p> 0.05). All jump performance variables had a significant relationship with peak power and mean power (p<0.05 and p<0.01). Although both the absolute and relative Wingate test variables were significantly correlated with all jump performance variables, the r values for the relative variables were lower than their absolute counterparts. The results of the present study indicated that in field conditions the trainers may predict anaerobic performance using the jumping properties and when the subjects’ body weight was incorporated, this led to a more representative indicator of the subjects jumping abilities