title: Efficacy of the National Football League-225 Test to Track Changes in One Repetition Maximum Bench Press After Training in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA Football Players.
abstract: Numerous investigations have attested to the efficacy of the National Football League (NFL)-225 test to estimate one repetition maximum (1RM) bench press. However, no studies have assessed the efficacy of the test to track changes in strength across a training program. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the NFL-225 test for determining the change in 1RM bench press in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA college football players after training. Over a 4-year period, players (n = 203) were assessed before and after a 6-week off-season resistance program for 1RM bench press and repetitions completed with 102.3 kg (225 lbs). Test sessions typically occurred within 1 week of each other. Players significantly increased 1RM by 4.2 ± 8.6 kg and NFL-225 repetitions by 0.9 ± 2.3, although the effect size (ES) for each was trivial (ES = 0.03 and 0.07, respectively). National Football League 225 prediction equations had higher correlations with 1RM before training (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.95) than after training (ICC = 0.75). The correlation between the change in NFL-225 repetitions and change in 1RM was low and negative (r = -0.22, p < 0.02). Short-term heavy resistance training may alter the association between muscular strength and muscular endurance in college football players and render the NFL-225 test less effective in predicting the change in 1RM bench press strength after short-term training.
authors.affiliation: 1Athletic Performance Department, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; 2Physical Therapy Department, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; 3Exercise Science Program, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri; and 4Physiology Department, A. T. Still University of Health Sciences, Kirksville, Missouri.
authors.forename: J Bryan
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Pat A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ivey
authors.forename: Josh D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Stoner
authors.forename: Jerry L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mayhew
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Brechue
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005538:Football / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D055070:Resistance Training; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult