Efficacy of the National Football League-225 Test to Track Changes in One Repetition Maximum Bench Press After Training in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA Football Players

J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Nov;29(11):2997-3005. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000829.

Abstract

Numerous investigations have attested to the efficacy of the National Football League (NFL)-225 test to estimate one repetition maximum (1RM) bench press. However, no studies have assessed the efficacy of the test to track changes in strength across a training program. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the NFL-225 test for determining the change in 1RM bench press in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA college football players after training. Over a 4-year period, players (n = 203) were assessed before and after a 6-week off-season resistance program for 1RM bench press and repetitions completed with 102.3 kg (225 lbs). Test sessions typically occurred within 1 week of each other. Players significantly increased 1RM by 4.2 ± 8.6 kg and NFL-225 repetitions by 0.9 ± 2.3, although the effect size (ES) for each was trivial (ES = 0.03 and 0.07, respectively). National Football League 225 prediction equations had higher correlations with 1RM before training (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.95) than after training (ICC = 0.75). The correlation between the change in NFL-225 repetitions and change in 1RM was low and negative (r = -0.22, p < 0.02). Short-term heavy resistance training may alter the association between muscular strength and muscular endurance in college football players and render the NFL-225 test less effective in predicting the change in 1RM bench press strength after short-term training.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Football / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Muscle Strength / physiology*
  • Physical Fitness / physiology
  • Resistance Training*
  • Weight Lifting / physiology*
  • Young Adult