Personalized Tests in Paralympic Athletes: Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance Profile of Elite Wheelchair Rugby Players

Abstract

In Paralympic sports, the goal of functional classifications is to minimize the impact of impairment on the outcome of the competition. The present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate aerobic and anaerobic personalized tests in Paralympic athletes and to correlate them with the classification of the international wheelchair rugby federation (IWRF). Sixteen elite players of the Italian wheelchair rugby team volunteered for the study. Aerobic (incremental test to exhaustion) and anaerobic (Wingate 30s all-out test, 5 and 10-meter sprint test, shuttle test, isometric test) sport-performance measurements were correlated singularly or grouped (Z scores) with the classification point. Moreover, a multivariate permutation-based ranking analysis investigated possible differences in the overall level of performance among the adjacent classified groups of players, considering the scores of each test. A statistically significant correlation between the performance parameters and the IWRF functional classification considering both aerobic and anaerobic personalized tests was detected (0.58 ≤ r ≤ 0.88; 0.0260 ≤ p ≤ 0.0001). The multivariate permutation-based ranking analysis showed differences only for the low-pointers versus mid-pointers (p = 0.0195) and high-pointers (p = 0.0075). Although single performance parameters correlated with athletes’ classification point, results of the multivariate permutation-based ranking analysis seem to suggest considering only the most significant anaerobic and sport-specific performance parameters among athletes. These should be combined with the physical assessment and the qualitative observation, which are already part of the classification process to improve its effectiveness.

Assessment of muscle strength in para-athletes: A systematic review of observational studies

“…The majority of studies assessed strength using isometric (16/30: 53%) 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 or isokinetic testing protocols (10/30: 33%). 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 Two studies combined isometric and isokinetic testing.…”

“…Isometric tests predominantly used load cells 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 36 or dynamometers 26 , 29 , 33 , 35 , 38 , 49 and used measures of peak force obtained at different durations. This testing included measures obtained after 1 s or 2 s, with effort maintained for a further three to 10 s. Isokinetic testing was carried out at typical test velocities (between 60 and 300°/s [degrees per second]).…”

“…Values were corrected for body weight in a small number of studies. 30 , 43 , 44 Some studies (both isometric and isokinetic) calculated muscle group ratios, including concentric external and internal rotator strength ratios. 39 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 47 …”

Most frequent tests in the literature for the evaluation of physical qualities in elite level Paralympic wheelchair basketball: a systematic review

“…This test delivers measures such as peak power (PP), defined as the maximum 5-second value recorded during the test measured in watts (W), mean power output (MP) as mean power achieved during the 30-second test measured in watts (W), minimum maximum power output (MPP), the highest 5-second maximum power value recorded during the Wingate test measured in watts (W) and power drop (PD) (Soylu et al, 2020). This type of testing has also been employed in other Paralympic modalities, for example, wheelchair rugby (Marcolin et al, 2020), however, its application requires specific implements that may make it difficult to access.…”

Evaluation of a standardized test protocol to measure wheelchair-specific anaerobic and aerobic exercise capacity in healthy novices on an instrumented roller ergometer

“…Besides these methodological considerations, none of these earlier studies [11][12][13][14] verified whether the protocol led to outcomes close to the individually estimated values or to valid WAnT and GXT resistance settings. As stated, for the WAnT the participant should be able to accelerate against a sufficiently high resistance and maximal velocity should not exceed 3 m�s -1 [17][18][19]. The GXT protocol is deemed valid when test duration is 8-12 min [8].…”