The 30-15 intermittent fitness test: can it predict outcomes in field tests of anaerobic performance?

This study determined whether a composite assessment of intermittent fitness could be used to quantify performance in several anaerobic tasks. Fifty-two male recreational athletes (age: 24.3 ± 4.4 years; body mass: 85.1 ± 12.2 kg; height: 180.5 ± 7.0 cm) were recruited from various team sports. Participants completed a battery of field tests to assess sprinting speed (40-m sprint), acceleration ability (10-m sprint), change of direction speed (505 test), anaerobic capacity (300-m shuttle), lower-body power (vertical jump), and repeated-sprint ability and the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test to determine the velocity of intermittent fitness (VIFT). Relationships between anaerobic tests and VIFT were quantified via Pearson product-moment correlations, and a 2-predictor model multiple linear regression estimated the predictive relationships between the exercise tests and the VIFT. Multiple linear regression showed that VIFT significantly predicted 56, 51, 44, 36, 12, and 1% of the variance in the 300-m shuttle, repeated sprint, 505- and 40-m sprint, vertical jump, and 10-m sprint tests, respectively. The 2-predictor model determined the 300-m shuttle, and repeated-sprint performance accounted for 67% of the variance in VIFT. These findings highlight that various anaerobic characteristics contribute to the intermittent fitness qualities that are quantified through VIFT. More specifically, these data indicate that VIFT is useful for tracking performance in tasks largely determined by anaerobic capacity, but may not be a good predictor of brief all-out sprinting and jumping efforts.