title: Age, weight, and the front abdominal power test as predictors of isokinetic trunk strength and work in young men and women.
abstract: First we tested the reliability of two new field tests of core stability (plank to fatigue test [PFT] and front abdominal power test [FAPT]), as well as established measures of core stability (isokinetic trunk extension and flexion strength [TES and TFS] and work [TEW and TFW]) over 3 days in 8 young men and women (24.0 +/- 3.1 years). The TES, TFS, TFW, and FAPT were highly reliable, TEW was moderately reliable, and PFT were unreliable for use during a single testing session. Next, we determined if age, weight, and the data from the reliable field test (FAPT) were predictive of TES, TEW, TFS, and TFW in 50 young men and women (19.0 +/- 1.2 years). The FAPT was the only significant predictor of TES and TEW in young women, explaining 16 and 15% of the variance in trunk performance, respectively. Weight was the only significant predictor of TFS and TFW in young women, explaining 28 and 14% of the variance in trunk performance, respectively. In young men, weight was the only significant predictor of TES, TEW, TFS, and TFW, and explained 27, 35, 42, and 33%, respectively, of the variance in trunk performance. In conclusion, the ability of weight and the FAPT to predict TES, TEW, TFS, and TFW was more frequent in young men than women. Additionally, because the FAPT requires few pieces of equipment, is fast to administer, and predicts isokinetic TES and TEW in young women, it can be used to provide a field-based estimate of isokinetic TES and TEW in women without history of back or lower-extremity injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA. pmcowley@syr.edu
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Cowley
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sottung
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Swensen
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult