Aerobic capacity and peak power output of elite quadriplegic games players

Abstract

Background: Participation in wheelchair sports such as tennis and rugby enables people with quadriplegia to compete both individually and as a team at the highest level. Both sports are dominated by frequent, intermittent, short term power demands superimposed on a background of aerobic activity. Objective: To gain physiological profiles of highly trained British quadriplegic athletes, and to examine the relation between aerobic and sprint capacity. Methods: Eight male quadriplegic athletes performed an arm crank exercise using an ergometer fitted with a Schoberer Rad Messtechnik (SRM) powermeter. The sprint test consisted of three maximum-effort sprints of five seconds duration against a resistance of 2%, 3%, and 4% of body mass. The highest power output obtained was recorded (PPO). Peak oxygen consumption (V O 2peak ), peak heart rate (HR peak ), and maximal power output (PO aer ) were determined. Results: Mean PO aer was 67.7 (16.2) W, mean V O 2peak was 0.96 (0.17) litres/min, and HR peak was 134 (19) beats/min for the group. There was high variability among subjects. Peak power over the five second sprint for the group was 220 (62) W. There was a significant correlation between V O 2peak (litres/min) and PO aer (W) (r = 0.74, p,0.05). Conclusions: These British quadriplegic athletes have relatively high aerobic fitness when compared with the available literature. Moreover, the anaerobic capacity of these athletes appeared to be relatively high compared with paraplegic participants.

Aerobic power and peak power of elite America’s Cup sailors

“…Although it has been suggested that maximal arm crank tests of aerobic power should be short in duration (<14 min) in order to avoid local fatigue (Goosey-Tolfrey et al 2006), this has not been confirmed, and no significant differences have been observed in any measured variables during arm cranking between step and ramp protocols despite a 3-fold difference in test duration (Washburn and Seals 1983;Smith et al 2004).…”

“…Arm cranking has received some scientific attention, due to its role in cardiovascular and injury rehabilitation (Carson 1989;Westhoff et al 2008), as well as being an appropriate mode for assessing upper body athletes (Tesch 1983;Driss et al 1998;Hubner-Wozniak et al 2004;Pearson et al 2007;Zagatto et al 2008) and individuals with spinal cord injury or lower limb disability (Hicks et al 2003;Goosey-Tolfrey et al 2006;Valent et al 2008). During upper body exercise, athletes trained for this type of work appear to be able to achieve a high proportion of their lower body VO 2peak , with seated arm cranking values of ~4.1 L .…”

Quantification of Activity During Wheelchair Basketball and Rugby at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games

“…8,9 Goosey-Tolfrey et al found the peak power output, peak VO2, peak heart rate, and maximal power output of well trained wheelchair rugby athletes during arm ergometer tests and concluded that they had high levels of aerobic fitness. 8 Abel et al used metabolic testing to determine the energy expenditure of wheelchair basketball, tennis, and rugby players during practice sessions. 9 Several studies have focused on the physiological responses of wheelchair basketball athletes but these are limited to game-related data and are qualitative in nature.…”

Aerobic fitness and lifestyle with non-exercise physical activity in adults with cerebral palsy

“…This work physiology was originally intended to provide practical information to athletes to improve their performance. Since the 1960s, physiological studies have mostly focused on the wellness of children 3,10,[25][26][27][28][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] or athletes [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] with cerebral palsy mainly rated to Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I or II. In the late twentieth century, many new remedies proliferated one after another in an attempt to recover loss of function in children with cerebral palsy.…”

“…Some studies have examined aerobic fitness in athletes with cerebral palsy. However, athletic competitions rarely include individuals with cerebral palsy [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][52][53][54] . Van der Woude et al included a few individuals with cerebral palsy in a study involving subjects with various impairments 51) .…”