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.

Keywords: Wingate test; classification; invasion games; oxygen consumption; sprint test; wheelchair sport.

Figure 1

Non-motorized ergometer employed in the tests. Numbers are referred to: Inertial disks (1); transmission belt (2); mechanical coupling (3); electromechanical brake (4); drum (5); load cell (6); encoder (7).

Figure 2

Schematic representation of the experimental protocol.

Figure 3

Z scores and permutation-based ranking analysis results. Absolute values are presented on the left (a,c,e); body mass normalized values are presented on the right (b,d,f). (VO₂ peak, peak of the oxygen consumption; P5, highest mean power over a successive 5-second interval; P30, mean power over 30 s; FP5, mean power of the last 5-second interval; APPO, absolute peak power output in the first 5 s; MPPO, minimum peak power output in the last 5 s; MAPPO, integral mean of the power signal over thrusts including APPO; MMPPO, integral mean of the power signal over thrusts including MPPO).