The Connection Between a Person’s Physical Performance and Results in The Wingate Exam

Abstract

This paper outlines the key issues adjacent to the Wingate Test in sports and exercise; it focuses more on the increased growth and development in the use of the test in both professional and non-professional sporting activities (Coulson & Archer, 2009). It also analyses the effects of lack of adequate information on the matter on sports and how effective understanding would increase chances of improving on already existing talent. With increase in the level of technology globally, the paper analyses the role played by improved machines and other anaerobic devices to measure the power and capability of individuals to sprint when most required. Consequently there is need to reduce the risks associated with sports on the physique of the athletes. The dilemma falls on the effectiveness of the test amidst the different weaknesses that are presented by the differences in the individual’s capabilities. Additionally the paper seeks to find out the challenges experienced by sports me and women and how the test can be part of the solution. Finally a conclusive report is given about the applicability of the test on the structure and composition of the human capabilities in sporting.

Significance of the Wingate test in sports and exercise is a vast topic and this paper does not claim to cover all the issues involved. Conversely it shares and analyses the key issues that have affected and are currently affecting the sports section by using research from scholars, current facts and figures and mostly data analysis. More research does require to be conducted fully grasp the role in effective performance of the test.

Introduction

Sports and exercise are slowly turning from just professional activities undertaken by those in that profession but an everyday event for even ordinary people seeking to stay healthy and keep fit. This has therefore created a need to have tests that can be able to determine and measure the power and physical capacity one has. There is also need to access the performance of individuals involved in sports as their careers and the allow them to develop resistance and win in their respective fields.

The Wingate test, developed in Israel, is an aerobics test that measure the peak aerobic power and capacity while on a cycle ergometer. Basically, it involves peddling at maximum speed against a constant force for preset periods of time by an individual. It determines if one has the capability to be involved in sports that require quick and all-out effort sprinting as these short sprints heavily rely on anaerobic power. The higher the anaerobic power, the higher the chances of a greater performance.

Thesis:

The higher the Wingate test scores of an individual, the greater their performance in sports that require anaerobic energy and sprint

The objective of this paper is to proof

• The effectiveness of the Wingate test on athletes
• The ease of measuring resistance and sustainability of energy and power using the test
• The applicability of the test in everyday life of an athlete

The aim of the paper is to investigate the underlying facts about Wingate and the correlation it has, if any, to improved player performance. The health issues associated with the test will addressed as well as the risks taken by the participants in the process. The analysis will be based on both previous information on the subject and real time test conducted on several individuals who have agreed to be part of an experiment. The calculations involved will be analyzed, appropriate recommendations will be made and a detailed conclusion stated.

Methods

The question this research will be answering is:

How effective and accurate is the Wingate test in determining the anaerobic power and capabilities of a sports man or woman.

Research philosophy: According to Garney and Birley,2002 while choosing the right methodology to research for the individual performance topics especially in the sports and exercise sector, one should consider that most of the questions and answers are to be found by using the methods and approaches that intepretavism includes. Intepretavism is the ideal research method philosophy when wanting to resource people’s personal experiences, their ideas and direct answers. It is more appropriate in this case.

Research methodology: In order to acquire the necessary information on the Wingate test, content analysis and experimental methods were used. Content analysis encompasses the use of information from different departments including education, academia, the United Nations data and finally findings from other scholars on the same issue. Content analysis will give a broad analysis of data collected since the concept of the test was started and the various challenges it has experienced to date (Reiman & Manske 2009). Literature review in this case will be used to build a proper foundation that will allow for the experience to be based on. The method will ensure that it covers the different factors that affect sports men and women and the consequent effect using it on them;

The second one will involve the use of seven individuals who will perform the test and have their information recorded and analysed. The experiment will analyse the physical and performance capabilities of the individuals versus the expectations of the test according to the content that was analysed. A comparative analysis will be made and conclusions drawn on the same.

Research Approaches

From reason to research; Inductive and deductive approaches are two different approaches that the researcher may choose one of them to continue with the construction of this work. Inductive is particularly used when the researcher aims a new theory, and this research paper will have the enough data to provide, so that conclusions can be made (Tharp, et al 2005). Deductive approaches are related mostly with the hypothesis of the research question the researcher has constructed.

Research Strategy

The research will consist of both qualitative and qualitative data. Qualitative data is time consuming and neither quick nor easy task, conversely the result of the field research will be clear and the reader will be able to distinguish the truth of the phenomenon based on real life experiences. Qualitative research is the most adequate method of choice when the researcher wants to find an understanding of the events, processes or relationships regarding the topic. The data that will be provided will have the relevance and reliable information to the research question of this paper and objectives. The research study that is going to be used is a field research, which will include close investigation of the test in order to generate the answers of the questions that are going to be asked (Saunders et al., 2007). The field research will include personal conversations, different connections and explaining that will help the author conclude her analysis.

Quantitative analysis will be easier and less time consuming as it will involve an exercise session with a chosen population and during the session observations will be made and recorded accordingly.

Population and sampling

Different research papers need to choose different way of selecting a sample, but in all cases the researcher should narrow down to a specific point, it is not possible to take into consideration the whole world population. For research authors to have a precise and well managed research paper, it is needed a selected sample (Reis & Judd 2000). This sample can be selected from different populations relative to the research question. In this research paper, the population to be picked is of seven young men who are of different decent. This is mainly meant to ensure that the experiment and analysis made are biased towards a specific decent and race. They are mostly in their early twenties, ages that are considered to be the prime age especially for sports and exercise related individuals (Reis & Judd 2000). They have been asked to participate on a voluntary basis with the nature of the experiment having been fully explained to them.

After the experiment, in an attempt to gain more insight an interview session will be held where the opinions and views of the participants will be asked and recorded to be analysed together with the other qualitative data collected.

The process of the experiment according to Ehrman,2009

Each participant will perform Four 30 second maximum anaerobic power bout on a Monark Cycle Ergometer following a 10 minute warm up.

• Power will be recorded at each 5 second interval.
• The resistance set for each participant will equate to 0.08 x Body Mass (kg).
• The assistant gives the command “GO” and starts the stopwatch and the athlete pedals as fast as possible with no flywheel resistance.
• After 3 seconds the assistant applies the calculated flywheel resistance and the athlete continues to pedal as fast as possible until 30 seconds has elapsed
• After 30 seconds the athlete stops pedalling and the assistant records the flywheel revolutions for each 5 second interval of the test.

The interviews

The interviews are meant to shows some results in understanding the lived experience of other people in accordance with the research question that this research holds. By using interviews as a method, the researcher will construct a semi structured interview with around 7 different participants. Semi structured interviews are usually preferred as qualitative research interviews and the purpose of them is to give the interviewer the basic information that he needs to get from the person getting interviewed, but still having some freedom to come up with questions in accordance with the answers that the author will be getting from the entrepreneur getting interviewed (Reiman & Manske 2009).

Validity

This research paper will be based unto three aspects of gathering data to be later on analysed; face to face interviews, and experiment with the participants and content analysis of previously done work and literature review (Coulson & Archer, 2009). These will make it possible to ensure the most reliable information is collected in order to achieve the main objectives of this in field research.

Limitations

In this research paper certain limitations will be getting in the way of the researcher to find out the real facts and reasons behind this topic. The limited scope will be narrowed regarding their type of sport that the individual will be involved in; so the researcher won’t choose the sports that the participants will be involved in after the experiment. The other limitation is based on content analysis as the work to be analysed and used at times contradict each other as they are written by different authors at different places and times. Additionally, some of the information may not be completely reliable as some researchers are known for not having enough information to make the conclusions they do in their work, yet they still publish their papers.

Another limitation the author of this research paper may face is the not so collaborative behaviour from the participants. It is realistic to assume that face to face interviews are met with the challenge of being put on the pressure and the participants can often not tell the truth (Murphy & Patton 2005). This is the main reason why the questions will not be open ended but will allow for some bit of deviation from each other. The yes and no answers will make up a substantial part of the interview.

Analysis of the data

The test was conducted over a period of 30 second and it revealed two important aspects: anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity. Now peak power is measured within the first five seconds of the test and is measured in Watts, it is determined by dividing the resistance on the electromagnetic machine by the time which is a standard five seconds (Hill & Smith 2011). The higher the peak power the better an athlete is in sprinting as it shows that there is a high starting power in a sprint. The following is the formulae used:

Watts = force X total distance

The relative peak power is acquired by dividing the peak power by the individual’s body mass and is expressed in W/kg. The following is the formulae

Watts/kg = Watts/ body weight

Fatigue index on the other hand is the percentage decline in power compared to the peak power. It is calculated as follows = peak power output- minimum power output × 100

Peak power output

The minimum power point is determined by conducting a comparative analysis of the power output in every five seconds and determining the highest and the lowest. The highest automatically becomes the peak while the lowest becomes the minimum (McAdrdle, et al 2010). Force in this case is determined by the amount of resistance added to the flywheel of the machine while total distance is the number of revolutions that the flywheel goes over every five seconds from the beginning of the exercise to the end. Since most of the participants were athletes the resistance was increased from the usual one of 1.0kg per kilogram of body weight to 1.3kg per kilogram of body weight to aid in determining their capability as well.

Anaerobic power means that there is the presence of more muscle that can produce energy in the absence of oxygen and this energy can be used in times of sports and can allow one to have more energy than other (Hoffman, 2006). According to the data collected it was obvious that participant 2 and 7 have the best anaerobic energy as they have the highest average power and the highest peak power amongst all of them. This means that they are good at sprinting and short races as athletes. For the other ones, for instance, participant 1, he has a lower peak power in comparison to the two aforementioned but also has a lower fatigue index in comparison to them. This means that the two will tire easily and as much as they had a high power while taking off in a race they cannot be able to maintain it. Participant 1 while his power to sprint is lower he does not tire easily and therefore can be able to run in long races that require endurance more than speed. Additionally there are instances where he comes close to the performance of the best amongst the participants meaning he can be able to sustain energy for long periods of time and be able to sprint at the end of the race as witness3d in long distant races.

The test also reveal where one would more likely like to work on, for instance participant 2 and 7 have been able to master the art of anaerobic power and energy, so in order for them to maintain the sprint speed that they would start with, they would have to move forward to mastering aerobic energy which utilizes oxygen. Yoga would come highly recommended so that it can expand their oxygen capacity in the lungs (Garrett & Kirkendall, 2000). For participant 1 he would require more exercise on anaerobic power so that he can be able to improve on his muscles and consequently his sprinting and speed (Maud & Foster 2006). He seems to have mastered aerobic exercises and power as he is able to ensure that his energy levels do not decrease at a high rate in comparison to the others.

Conclusion

Normative data is considered extremely important in the interpretation of any test and analysis of the results. This means that there is need to pick a sample population that encompasses all the requirements of the thesis. In this case, the sample picked was tested four times in order to remove all sense of biasness, coincidence and reduce the error rate.

The thesis has been proven correct in accordance to the calculations made and the formulas used to get the stated numerals. Wingate test can be used to determine the capabilities of an individual’s muscle power without putting into consideration the role of aerobic power. Wingate test assists athletes to be able to improve their general performance by indicating the areas that require to be improved.