Vol 13, Issue 4

Reliability and Test-Retest Agreement of Mechanical Variables Obtained During Countermovement Jump

June 15, 2020 - By 

Authors

Alisson Alves Souza, University of Brasilia, Brasilia
Martim Bottaro, University of Brasilia, Brasilia
Valdinar Araujo Rocha Jr, University of Brasilia, Brasilia
Victor Lage, University of Brasilia, Brasilia
James J. Tufano, University of Houston – Clear Lake
Amilton Vieira, University of Brasilia, Brasilia,
International Journal of Exercise Science 13(4): 6-17, 2020.
DOI: 10.70252/XQXF8049

Abstract

The countermovement jump (CMJ) is often used as performance measure and monitoring tool. Traditionally, jump height (JH) is most often studied and reported, but other variables (e.g. force, velocity, power) can also be obtained during CMJ testing on a force plate. The aim of this study was to determine the intra-rater reliability of mechanical variables obtained during CMJs. For this, 41 physically active men (24 ± 4 years) performed four CMJs on a force plate with an interval of 48 to 168 hours (test-retest design). Six variables were analyzed: 1) jump height (JH), 2) peak force (PF), 3) peak power (PP), 4) velocity at takeoff (VTO), 5) rate of force (RFD) and 6) power (RPD) development. Five variables showed to be reliable (i.e. CV < 10%), except RFD (CV of 12.9%). Although JH exhibited an acceptable level of reliability (r= 0.94 and CV = 5.8%), better scores were observed for PF, VTO, and PP (CV ranging from 2.5 to 5.1%). The PF showed the best reliability scores (r= 0.99 and CV = 2.5%) and RPD, a relatively unexamined variable compared to the others, showed an acceptable level of reliability (r= 0.96 and CV = 7.8%). Therefore, JH, PF, PP, VTO, and RPD demonstrated acceptable scores of reliability. PF seems to be the most appropriate variable to use when small changes in performance are expected. Future studies should investigate the importance of RPD for performance evaluation.

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