Evaluating Upper-body Strength And Power From A Single Test

Abstract

Muscular strength and power are major determinants for many explosive, short duration sporting events. Consequently, the assessment of muscular strength and power is imperative for training program design and talent identification purposes. The one repetition maximum (1RM) squat and bench press are the most frequently used field tests for assessing lower and upper body strength, respectively. However, time constraints and maximal testing for untrained individuals may limit the use of 1RM testing in large population groups. Additionally, there has been only a limited number of investigations that have focused on the evaluation of upper body muscular power. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the ballistic push-up (BPU) exercise, and to develop prediction equations for 1RM bench press and upper-body power. METHODS: Sixty recreationally-active men completed a 1RM bench press and two BPU in three separate testing sessions. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of peak and mean force, peak velocity, flight time, and peak and mean power were calculated and used to examine the reliability of the BPU. Mean force, flight time and peak velocity was used to develop equations to predict the 1RM bench press, and time-based and velocity-based upper-body power. RESULTS: ICC’s ranged from 0.849 - 0.971 for the BPU measurements. Multiple regression analysis provided the following 1RM bench press prediction equations: 1RM = 0.31 × Mean Force - 1.64 × Body mass + 0.70 (R2 = 0.837, SEE = 11 kg); time-based power prediction equations: Peak Power = 11.0 × Body Mass + 2012.3 × Flight Time - 338.0 (R2 = 0.658, SEE = 150 W), Mean Power = 6.7 × Body Mass + 1004.4 × Flight Time - 224.6 (R2 = 0.664, SEE = 82 W); and velocity-based power prediction equation: Peak Power = 8.1 × Body Mass + 818.6 × Peak Velocity - 762.0 (R2 = 0.797, SEE = 115 W); Mean Power = 5.2 × Body Mass + 435.9 × Peak Velocity - 467.7 (R2 = 0.838, SEE = 57 W). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that the BPU is a reliable test for both upper-body strength and power. Furthermore, the mean force generated from the BPU can be used to predict 1RM bench press, while peak velocity and flight time measured during the BPU can be used to predict upper-body power. These findings support the potential use of the BPU as a valid method to evaluate upper-body strength and power.