Restriction lift date: 2026-07-28
Trunk strength and endurance testing in field-athletes: a reliability study
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Date
2025-07-28
Authors
Dekkers, Thomas A.
Blake, Catherine
Collins, Kieran D.
McVeigh, Joseph G.
O'Sullivan, Kieran J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Published Version
Abstract
Objectives
Despite the important role of the trunk muscles in athletic performance and the onset of injury, consensus is lacking as to the best methods to assess trunk strength and endurance in athletic populations in the field. This study aimed to examine the intra-rater reliability of a battery of trunk strength and endurance tests.
Design
Test-retest reliability study.
Setting
Isometric trunk strength using a hand-held dynamometer (HHD) and isometric trunk endurance using the McGill protocol and novel ‘long-lever’ tests were evaluated.
Participants
Twenty-three male field-athletes.
Main Outcome MeasuresL: Intra-class coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM).
Results
For relative reliability, good to excellent results were found for all HHD strength tests (ICC = 0.70-0.91). Relative reliability for trunk endurance tests showed excellent results for the McGill protocol (ICC = 0.80-0.89) and moderate to excellent reliability for the long-lever tests (ICC = 0.57-0.96). The V-Sit endurance test and the isometric lateral flexion strength test showed lower absolute reliability, with relatively high SEM values.
Conclusions
Therefore, we recommend practitioners assess athlete trunk function by using a HHD to evaluate isometric flexion, extension and rotation trunk strength and the Biering-Sørenson, and long-lever lateral flexion and flexion tests to assess trunk endurance.
Description
Keywords
Trunk , Strength , Endurance , Soccer , Football , Hurling , Tests , Assessment
Citation
Dekkers, T.A., Blake, C., Collins, K.D., McVeigh, J.G. and O’Sullivan, K.J. (2025) ‘Trunk strength and endurance testing in field-athletes: a reliability study.’, Physical Therapy in Sport. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2025.07.012