The aims of this study were: to verify the relationship (1) and dependency (2) between body fat (BF), fat free mass (FFM) and the arm muscle area (AMA) with athletic performance of wheelchair basketball players. Twenty-two subjects were evaluated according to the following order, in 24-hour intervals: a) anthropometric measurements and the Wingate anaerobic test (day 1); b) assessment of VO2peak and threshold (2); and c) specific tests (3). The results showed satisfactory relationships of AMA with handgrip left (r=.36; p=.08), VO2peak (r=.59; p=.03), medicine ball throwing (r=.54; p=.00), absolute (r=.61; p=.00) and relative anaerobic power (r=.67; p=.00). BF with handgrip left (r= .43; p=.03), medicine ball throwing (r=.50; p=.01), absolute (r=.77; p=.00) and relative (r=.82; p=.00) anaerobic power. And FFM with handgrip (r=.44; p=.03), medicine ball throwing (r=.43; p=.03), absolute (r=.64; p=.00) and relative (r=.69; p= .00) anaerobic power. The regression analyses revealed that only predictive models by AMA presented good determination coefficients to VO2peak (r 2 =.35; p=.00), medicine ball throwing (r 2 =.29; p=.00), absolute (r 2 =.37; p=.00) and relative (r 2 =.46; p=.00) anaerobic Power. The results indicated the importance to consider some anthropometric measures, in particular muscular tissue, to sport training and athletic performance evaluation of wheelchair basketball players.

The equipment for evaluating the propulsion of a wheelchair is very complex and expensive. To validate a new dynamometer prototype for assessing the propulsion capacity of wheelchairs, 21 healthy subjects (age: 20.9±2.4 yr; weight: 68.9±7.9 kg; height: 174.0±7.1 cm; BMI: 22.7±2.5 kg·m −2 ) who do not normally require wheelchairs performed a sprint protocol for 20 s after a 1-min warm-up. The power and rotation data acquired by the prototype (both right and left sides) were compared with those of a reference system via high-speed videography (240 fps). The results showed high levels of accordance (95% CI), excellent values for the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC: .99; P <0.00), no significant differences in the rotation ( P =0.91) and power ( P =0.94) between the methods. The proposed equipment met the validation criteria and thus can be applied as a new tool for assessing wheelchair propulsion.

The confinement period caused by the SARS-COV2 pandemic is another barrier to the practice of physical exercise by people with spinal cord injury (SCI). In view of the countless therapies targeted at this public, it is necessary to highlight the benefits of exercises performed at home. Thus, our objective was to determine the main characteristics of physical exercise training modes performed at home and their effects on people with SCI. We searched for intervention studies in five databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, SPORTDiscus, Scopus and Cochrane CENTRAL) by including the terms and descriptors: “spinal cord injury”, “home-based”, exercise”, “video game”, “home-based physical activity”. The selected studies were described by means of a narrative synthesis. Of 69,843 studies, only 10 met the eligibility criteria, totaling 153 investigated individuals (25 women and 128 men). Regarding the type of injury, 118 participants were paraplegic and 33 tetraplegic. The studies addressed functional electrical stimulation (n = 4), electronic assistive devices (n = 5) and stretching exercises (n = 1). We observed that the focus of the interventions was the morphological, motor neuron, quality of life and functional aspects. The studies showed improvements in muscle strength andmorphology, in the ability to perform daily activities, in quality of life and in functional capacities, with no reported adverse situations. Although our review included a low number of randomized studies, we can conclude that several modes of exercise in the home environment promote benefits for people with SCI and can be options for maintaining or developing the health of this population.

Introduction: isometric muscle strength in people with spinal cord injury is usually associated with locomotor activity, posture maintenance and activities of daily living. However, the variety of methods available for the evaluation hinders decision making on the part of the professionals involved. Objective: our objective was to review the literature of the area and determine the evaluation methods of isometric force and relationships with other components of health and physical fitness of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: consulted if the sites BIREME-Medline and SciELO, under the terms "spinal cord injury", "paraplegia", "tetraplegia", "wheelchair athletes" and "disabilities athletes," "isometric strength", "handgrip" and " handheld "with the help of the Boolean AND operator. Results: they were found 18 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The equipment available, the manual dynamometer is the most used. Sophisticated equipment can evaluate force components with increased functionality. There were no significant changes in hemodynamic variables during isometric strength tests. In conclusion, good isometric strength levels appear to correlate with increased functionality of people with SCI. Conclusion: however, they are lacking reference values related to the isometric strength for this population, especially when tested handgrip.