(25) THE RELIABILITY OF MAXIMAL CONCENTRIC AND ECCENTRIC STRENGTH TESTS DURING THE BENCH PRESS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Purpose: To investigate the test-retest reliability of eccentric (ECC) and traditional (TRAD) bench press one repetition maximum (1RM) tests. Methods: Ten male resistance-trained subjects (height=1.74±0.1 m, body mass=81.2±16.9 kg, relative bench press 1RM=1.34±0.15 kg/kg) aged 18-40 years old participated in this study. In Session 1, subjects were familiarized with the TRAD and ECC 1RM tests. During Sessions 2 and 3 the TRAD and ECC 1RM tests were performed in a standardized order. Each session was separated by 7 days and conducted at approximately the same time of day. The reliability of the bench press 1RM tests was assessed using the single measurement, absolute agreement, 2-way mixed effects model intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence interval (CI), coefficient of variability (CV) with 95% CI, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and the limits of agreement (LoA). The paired-samples t-tests were used to compare the difference between the TRAD and ECC 1RM within each session. Hedge’s g effect sizes were calculated to examine the magnitude of the differences between the TRAD and ECC 1RM at each testing session. Results: The descriptive data and reliability statistic indices of each test are displayed in Table 1. Neither TRAD 1RM nor ECC 1RM showed significant differences between testing sessions (both p > 0.05). Subjects’ ECC 1RM was significantly greater than the TRAD 1RM in both testing sessions (p < 0.05, Hedge’s g=1.29-Session 2; Hedge’s g=1.39-Session 3). Conclusions: While the ECC and TRAD bench press 1RM tests are both reliable, the TRAD bench press 1RM test is more precise. The interday systematic error is insignificant. The higher upper limit of LoA for the ECC 1RM test may be related to experience with ECC training. Practical Applications: TRAD bench press 1RM test is a more reliable maximal strength test for the resistance-trained population who could bench press ≥1.0 times body mass. Practitioners should consider at least one familiarization session prior to assessing athletes’ bench press ECC 1RM. Based upon the current population the ECC bench press 1RM was 114%-128% of their TRAD 1RM, which could be used to estimate the ECC maximum when programming accentuated eccentric loading for the bench press. Acknowledgements: None