Reliability, Familiarization Effect, and Comparisons Between a Predetermined and a Self-Determined Isometric-Squat Testing Protocol

• Published in: International journal of sports physiology and performance 2023-07, Vol.18 (7), p.718-725
• Main Authors: McGoldrick, Cillian D, Iacono, Antonio Dello, Morgan, Oliver J, Nayler, Jack, Buchanan, Janice, McCart, Christopher, Unnithan, Viswanath B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Exercise Test - methods; Humans; Isometric Contraction; Muscle Strength; Reproducibility of Results; Soccer
• ISSN: 1555-0265; 1555-0273
• DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2022-0480

This study examined the interday reliability of a predetermined and a self-determined isometric-squat test among youth soccer players. Familiarization effects were evaluated to determine the minimum number of trials necessary to obtain consistent outputs. Finally, differences between protocols were evaluated. Thirty-one youth soccer players (mean [SD] age: 13.2 [1.0] y; body mass: 54.1 [3.4] kg; stature: 166.3 [11.2] cm; percentage of estimated adult height: 92.6% [3.6%]) from a top-tier professional academy completed 4 experimental sessions for each protocol: familiarization 1, familiarization 2, test, and retest sessions. Peak force; relative peak force; impulse from 0 to 50 milliseconds, 0 to 100 milliseconds, 0 to 150 milliseconds, and 0 to 200 milliseconds; and rate of force development from 0 to 50 milliseconds, 0 to 100 milliseconds, 0 to 150 milliseconds, and 0 to 200 milliseconds were measured. Both protocols displayed acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥.75 and coefficient of variation ≤10%) reliability statistics for all metrics apart from rate of force development of any time epoch. Differences were found between familiarization 2 and both test and retest sessions for peak force (P = .034 and .021, respectively) and relative peak force (P = .035 and .005, respectively) across both protocols. The isometric-squat test is a reliable test among youth soccer players. Two familiarization sessions seem to be sufficient to ensure data stabilization. Outputs between the self-determined and predetermined are comparable; however, the latter seems preferable due to improved testing time efficiency.