A New Squash Specific Incremental Field Test

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a practical and reliable squash specific incremental test for estimating maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O_2max). V˙O_2max was measured using breath-by-breath online gas analysis among 11 male and 10 female squash players during a maximal incremental running treadmill protocol. All subjects performed a specially designed maximal squash specific incremental test (SSIT) until fatigue on two separate occasions. There were positive intra-class correlations for the two SSIT trials for time to fatigue (r = 0.998, p < 0.001) but the second trial was shorter (t = 2.7, p < 0.05) due to less stable scores among female players. A positive correlation was found between SSIT performance and V˙O_2max (r = 0.924, p < 0.001). SSIT time to fatigue and V˙O_2max regression equations were used to produce a table to predict V˙O_2max from SSIT performance. SSIT was found to be a reliable and valid method of estimating V˙O_2max among squash players. A balance between usability and squash specificity was achieved in the design of the SSIT without jeopardising its purpose of estimating V˙O_2max. SSIT is inexpensive, quick to set up and simple to administer compared to other squash specific tests and can be used with novice through to elite players.

Key words

racket - fitness - aerobic - capacity - bootsrapping

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