Anaerobic Capacity Fitness Tests

The anaerobic capacity is the total amount of energy from the anaerobic (without oxygen) energy systems, that is the combined amount of output for the ATP, phospho-creatine and lactic acid systems. The anaerobic system is maximally stressed in short-duration high-intensity activities (generally between 30 seconds and several minutes), and most of the following tests are conducted over this time period. A related measure is the anaerobic threshold or lactate threshold measurements.

cycle ergometer test

Below is an extensive list of fitness tests of the anaerobic system. Another related fitness component in sports is the ability continually reproduce short bursts of high intensity work, often with short periods for recovery. Some repeat sprint tests are also listed below. Also check out the information about Testing for Intermittent Sports. and the list of strength and strength endurance tests and speed and power tests. The anaerobic system is also involved in short duration and strength activities, and there is a list of strength and strength endurance tests and speed and power tests.

Anaerobic System Tests

Single Exercise Bout

• 30-second Wingate test
• 10 & 30-second tri-level anaerobic tests
• 500m rowing ergo test
• Cunningham-Faulkner test — maximal treadmill test at 20% gradient.
• Bosco ErgoJump 60 sec Repetitive Jump Test
• 100 yard (10x10) Shuttle
• 300 yard Shuttle
• 60 Yard Shuttle (NFL)
• 45 Seconds Run
• 300m run
• 400m run
• 800m run

Repeat Sprint Tests (more about Testing Intermittent Sports)

• MART (Maximal Anaerobic Running Test) — 20 sec sprint/100 sec recovery, on a treadmill. Speeds increase unitl exhaustion.
• Sprint Fatigue Test — 10 x 30m sprints, starting every 30 seconds.
• RAST (Running Based Anaerobic Sprint Test) — 6 x 35m sprints, with a 10 second recovery between each sprint
• Dal Monte repeat sprint test — 5 x 50 m (men) or 40 m (women), at intervals of 1 minute.
• Phosphate Recovery Test — 7 x 7 second sprints with 23 seconds recovery.
• Repeat Sprint Ability Test — 10 x 20m, starting every 20 seconds.
• AFL Sprint Recovery Test — 6 x 30m sprints, starting at 20 second intervals.
• FIFA Interval Test 1 — 6 x 40m sprints, 1 minute recovery.
• Henman Shuttle Test — 5 x 1 minute shuttles, with 1 minute between each.
• Cycling Repeat Sprint Test — involving 5 x 6 second efforts performed every 30 seconds.

Upper Body

• Arm Crank — 2 x 15 seconds
• Wingate Arm Crank — 30 seconds maximal effort
• Quick Strike Punching Test

Other Tests

• Mader Test — determination of aerobic and anaerobic thresholds using blood lactate measures during an incremental exercise test.
• Conconi Test — a somewhat criticized test using a similar graded exercise test measuring only heart rate, and determining a deflection point on the heart rate / workload graph.
• Blood Lactate Testing