Mechanical jumping power in athletes.

The Wingate cycle ergometer test is a widely used test of sustained muscular power. A limitation of the test is the lack of development and retrieval of stored elastic energy due to a lack of an eccentric phase. To measure mechanical power output of the entire stretch-shortening cycle, the test of Bosco et al (1983) was administered to 119 male athletes in 7 different activities during their pre-participation evaluations. The sports tested were indoor soccer, American football and ballet (professionals), outdoor soccer, basketball and wrestling (collegiate) and amateur bobsled. Results showed the overall average power output to be 20.37 W.kg-1 for the 60s reciprocal jumping test. Ballet dancers generated significantly less mechanical power than indoor soccer, basketball and bobsled athletes, while wrestlers generated significantly less power than indoor soccer and basketball athletes (all p less than 0.05). No other between-sport differences were seen. A subset of indoor soccer players (n = 10) were retested after 4 months of training. Power improved from 20.8 to 24.3 W.kg-1 (p less than 0.05). While between sport differences were limited, training differences in one subset of athletes were readily identified.