Lower-body Wingate Anaerobic Performance of Indian Adolescent Athletes Across Sport Categories: A Cross-sectional Study

Optimum lower-body anaerobic power is critical for athletic performances, yet there is limited information of the power profile of Indian adolescent athletes across various sports, age and sexes. This study

Aims: to develop a power profile for this demographic and also examine the effects of sex, chronological age and sport type on anaerobic power. The study included 391 Indian adolescent athletes divided into different groups based on sex, age group, and sport type. Participants completed a 30-second Wingate anaerobic power test on a peak bike and the relative peak (PP), average (AP) and minimum power (MP) along with fatigue index (FI) were measured. A three-way MANOVA (sports-age -sex) was used to find power differences between the groups. Male athletes of all developmental stages and sport types showed significantly higher PP, AP, and MP than females. Middle and late adolescents athletes had higher power output than the early adolescents. Athletes involved in power sports achieved the highest PP and AP, whereas endurance athletes had greater MP and lowest FI. MANOVA revealed significant effects of sex ( p <0.001, η p 2 =0.373), age group ( p =0.013, η p 2 =0.027) and sport type ( p <0.001, η p 2 =0.084) on all anaerobic power variables, but none had three-way interaction effect. Two way interaction of sex and sport type was found only for MP ( p <0.001, η p 2 =0.080). These anaerobic power profiling and regular assessment can help coaches and sport science professionals to identify talents, monitor performance progress, and develop age-, sex-, and sport-specific training strategies accordingly.