Abstract des Autors

One minute sit-up or curl-up tests commonly used in fitness classes have been criticized as being measures of muscular power rather than endurance. Three different durations (120, 90, and 60 sec) of the bench trunk-curl (BTC) were given in random order to 49 college students to determine which durations were related. The mean (+/-SD) scores for the 60-, 90-, and 120 sec tests were 60+/-16, 89+/-28, and 112+/-38 repetitions, respectively. There were significant (p<0.01) correlations between all test durations (0.88< r<0.91). Partial correlation analysis to examine multicollinearity revealed more common variance between the 90- and 120-sec tests than between the 60- and 90-sec tests. Results supported the hypothesis that the 60-sec trunk-curl test was not measuring the same muscular performance variable as the longer durations for young adults. The 90- and 120-sec BTC test durations appear to be better tests of abdominal muscular endurance. Verf.-Referat