Force-velocity-power profiling versus traditional strength measures for prediction of athletic performance.

Background: Force-velocity-power (FVP) profiling may offer additional information regarding neuromuscular parameters compared to traditional isometric peak force (IPF) and one-repetition maximum (1RM) testing, however, the additional associative value towards athletic performance remains less clear.

Methods: Therefore, this cross-sectional study compared half squat IPF/1RM and maximal power (Pmax) derived from squat jump FVP profiling with vertical jump, linear sprint, and change of direction (COD) performance in 84 sport science students (35 females, 49 males). A Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationships among the variables and multiple linear regression analyses were used to test the independent implication of the FVP variables Pmax and force-velocity imbalance (FVimb).

Results: IPF displayed small correlations with peak sprint velocity and 30-m sprint time (P<0.05, r=0.266-0.294), but not with any other athletic performance measures. 1RM displayed significant (P<0.01) moderate-large correlations (r=0.301-0.516) with all performance measures. Correlations between Pmax and all performance measures were moderate-very large (r=0.465-0.714) and highly significant (P<0.001). Including FVimb significantly (P<0.02) increased the correlation coefficients for Pmax with 30-m sprint time and COD.

Conclusions: IPF showed small associations with jump, sprint, and COD performance, whereas 1RM and FVP profiling offer moderate to very large associations with explosive athletic performance. The results support an added value of obtaining FVP measures, particularly Pmax, compared to isometric and low-velocity (1RM) strength tests in assessing neuromuscular functional capacity.