Relationships between indices of single, maximal exercises in handball and judo athletes

The aim of the study was to compare handball and judo athletes (n = 36 and 19, respectively) with respect to anaerobic indices supplied by various maximal exercise tests, physical education students (n = 44) serving as reference group. All individuals were subjected to three exercises: conventional Wingate test (WT), a single, supramaximal cycle ergometer exercise consisting of 16 pedal revolutions (16 rev), and a shuttle run (2×25 m). Maximal power output in WT ranged from 10.89±0.77 W/kg in students to 11.36±0.68 W/kg in judoists (p<0.05). The latter had also lowest power output decrement in WT (3.59±0.62 W/kg) compared with other groups (p<0.05). Handball players had lowest running time (8.35±0.35 s) compared with other groups (p<0.05). Running time in that group was also highest correlated with maximal power output (r = -0.828; p<0.001), which makes it possible to use the shuttle run in place of WT in handball players.