ABSTRACTForty-one collegiate football players were investigated using a battery of tests purported to measure anaerobic power. Tests included: vertical jump (Lewis formula), standing long jump, standing five-jump test, 40-yard dash with first 5-yard increment, the Wingate anaerobic test and the Margaria-Kalaman stair test with and without run-up. Mean power outputs in the three composite power measures were considerably higher than those reported for untrained populations and other athletes. One-way ANOVA and Scheffe test of multiple comparisons showed that while backs and linebackers were similar in power output per kg and performance scores linemen exhibited significantly less power per unit body weight (p < 0.05). Forty-four of 45 Pearson Product Moment correlations among power variables were significant (p < 0.05). However, common variance among variables ranged from 0.22 to 0.81, suggesting a high degree of specificity among tests. Common variance between mean velocity after 5 yards and mean velocity in a running start 35-yard dash was only 0.41. This suggests that the commonly used 40-yard dash is a poor perdictor of initial acceleration and therefore not specific to the demands of most positions on a collegiate football team.
Forty-one collegiate football players were investigated using a battery of tests purported to measure anaerobic power. Tests included: vertical jump (Lewis formula), standing long jump, standing five-jump test, 40-yard dash with first 5-yard increment, the Wingate anaerobic test and the Margaria-Kalaman stair test with and without run-up. Mean power outputs in the three composite power measures were considerably higher than those reported for untrained populations and other athletes. One-way ANOVA and Scheffe test of multiple comparisons showed that while backs and linebackers were similar in power output per kg and performance scores linemen exhibited significantly less power per unit body weight (p < 0.05). Forty-four of 45 Pearson Product Moment correlations among power variables were significant (p < 0.05). However, common variance among variables ranged from 0.22 to 0.81, suggesting a high degree of specificity among tests. Common variance between mean velocity after 5 yards and mean velocity in a running start 35-yard dash was only 0.41. This suggests that the commonly used 40-yard dash is a poor perdictor of initial acceleration and therefore not specific to the demands of most positions on a collegiate football team.
© 1990 National Strength and Conditioning Association
