Outcomes of the Wingate do not differ when performed in a standing or sitting position

Anaerobic fitness is of paramount importance for short-duration and high-intensity activities. One of the most important physical tests to evaluate anaerobic fitness is the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT), in which a volunteer performs 30 s of all-out effort with a constant load while in the seated position. However, among sports like cycling, the standing position is used to enhance power output, especially during uphill sprints. The purpose of the present study was to compare the outcomes of the WAnT when performed in either standing or sitting positions. Twenty healthy men were recruited (age: 22.9 ± 4.46 years, body mass: 76.6 ± 11.9 kg, height: 1.74 ± 0.05 m, and body mass index: 25.3 ± 3.6 kg/m2). The participants attended the laboratory four times and underwent four WAnT, two in each position (standing or sitting) for reproducibility assessment, in a random order. The following variables were analyzed: absolute and relative peak power, absolute and relative mean power, and fatigue index. All variables had an intraclass correlation coefficient between 0.73 and 0.98 (moderate to excellent, respectively). There was no statistical difference in any of the variables compared between the standing and sitting positions. The Bland–Altman analysis revealed a high concordance between both conditions (standing and sitting position). WAnT outcomes do not change when performed in a sitting or standing position, these results suggest that the participant can choose which position is more comfortable when performing the test. This is the first study to evaluate different positions with the WAnT original protocol and with non-athletes subjects.