Teste aeróbio específico para o karate

J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Feb 15. [Epub ahead of print]


Reliability and construct validity of the karate specific aerobic test (KSAT).

Chaabène H, Hachana Y, Franchini E, Mkaouer B, Montassar M, Chamari K.

1Research Unit, Analysis and Evaluation of factors affecting the sport performance, Higher Institute of Sports and Physical Education, Ksar said, Tunisia; 2Tunisian Research Laboratory 'Sport Performance Optimisation', National Centre of Medicine and Science in Sport, Tunisia; 3 Higher Institute of Sports and Physical Education, Manouba University, Tunis, Tunisia; 4Martial Arts and Combat Sports Research Group, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.


Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine absolute and relative reliability and external responsiveness of the Karate specific aerobic test (KSAT). This study comprised 43 male karatekas, 19 of them participated in the first study to establish test-retest reliability and 40, selected on the bases of their karate experience and level of practice, participated in the second study to identify external responsiveness of the KSAT. The latter group was divided into two categories: national level group (Gn) and regional level group (Gr). Analysis showed excellent test-retest reliability of time to exhaustion (TE), with intraclass correlation coefficient ICC(3,1) >0.90, standard error of measurement SEM <5%: (3.2%) and mean difference (bias) ± the 95% limits of agreement: -9.5±78.8 s. There was a significant difference between test-retest session in peak lactate concentration (Peak [La]) (9.12±2.59 mmol.l vs 8.05±2.67 mmol.l; p<0.05), but not in peak heart rate (HRpeak) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) (196±9 bpm vs 194±9 bpm and 7.6±0.93 vs 7.8±1.15; p>0.05), respectively. National level karate athletes (1032±101-s) were better than regional level (841±134-s) on time to exhaustion (TE) performance during KSAT (p<0.001). Thus, KSAT provided good external responsiveness. The area under the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve was >0.70 (0.86; CI 95%: 0.72-0.95). Significant difference was detected on Peak [La] between national (6.09±1.78mmol.l) and regional level (8.48±2.63mmol.l) groups, but not in HRpeak (194±8 bpm vs 195±8 bpm) and RPE (7.57±1.15 vs 7.42±1.1) respectively. The result of this study indicates that KSAT provides excellent absolute and relative reliabilities. The KSAT can effectively distinguish karate athletes of different competitive levels. Thus, the KSAT may be suitable for field assessment of aerobic fitness of karate practitioners.