The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a school-based cardiovascular-fitness-training program in children with mental retardation (MR). Thirty boys (8-15 years old) with mild to moderate mental retardation were randomly divided into 2 groups--experimental (EX) and control (CN). The EX group underwent 10 weeks of training 3 times/week for a duration of 1 hr/session at 60-80% peak heart rate. At Week 10, significant increases in 20-m shuttle-run-test (20-MST) laps were observed for the EX group. No improvements were found in percent body fat. No changes were observed for the CN. The school-based training program might prove useful in improving the cardiovascular fitness of children with MR.
Introduction: Wheelchair basketball is a paralympic sport characterized by intermittent high-intensity activities that require explosive strength and speed. Objective: To investigate the effect of explosive strength training on speed and agility performance in wheelchair basketball players. Methods: Ten male wheelchair basketball players (M age =31±4 yrs) were divided into two groups [i.e. explosive strength training (ES); control (CN)] based on International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) classification scores. The ES group underwent 6-weeks of training, twice weekly, at 50% 1RM, 10-12 repetitions and 3-4 sets in addition to routine training. Effects of training were measured by the 20 m sprint test and Illinois agility test. Results: The ES group, showed significantly higher increases in speed and agility performance (p ≤ .05). Conclusion: A short-duration (i.e. 6-week) explosive strength training programme in wheelchair basketball athletes results in significant improvements in sprint and agility performance.
We examined the effects of training (4d/wk for 6 wks) with static stretching (SS) or contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on static balance time and motor neuron excitability. Static balance time, H max /M max ratios and H-reflex recovery curves (HRRC) were measured in 28 healthy subjects (SS: n=10, PNF: n=9, control: n=9) before and after training. SS improved static balance time with a trend observed for PNF. Post training, during 150-200-250 msec interstimulus intervals, we observed a reduction in facilitation, but during 500-700-900 msec interstimulus interval; there was an increase in H2/H1 ratio in the PNF group only. Both stretching techniques improved static balance. The Ia afferent inhibitions during the acute exercises were not found after the SS and PNF training programmes. It was concluded that training with contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation may cause some augmentation in supraspinal and postsynaptic inhibition on the motoneuron pool.
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