Adapted Physical Activity

SUMMARY: In 1995 the American College of Sports Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published national guidelines on Physical Activity and Public Health. The Committee on Exercise and Cardiac Rehabilitation of the American…

During the last nearly 50 years, the blood lactate curve and lactate thresholds (LTs) have become important in the diagnosis of endurance performance. An intense and ongoing debate emerged, which was mainly based on terminology and/or the…

In order to stimulate further adaptation toward specific training goals, progressive resistance training (RT) protocols are necessary. The optimal characteristics of strength-specific programs include the use of concentric (CON), eccentric (ECC),…

Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) exhibit deficits in volitional motor control and sensation that limit not only the performance of daily tasks but also the overall activity level of these persons. This population has been characterised as…

The theory of training was established about five decades ago when knowledge of athletes' preparation was far from complete and the biological background was based on a relatively small amount of objective research findings. At that time,…

A strong relationship between aerobic fitness and the aerobic response to repeated bouts of high intensity exercise has been established, suggesting that aerobic fitness is important in determining the magnitude of the oxidative response. The…

INTRODUCTION: The specific effects of resistance and endurance training on upper extremity work capacity, muscular strength, and anaerobic power in chronic survivors of paraplegia have not been previously determined. PURPOSE: This study compared the…

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the content, feasibility, outcome parameters, and clinimetric properties of the manual wheelchair skills tests reported in the literature. DESIGN: A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE,…

Classification systems are one of the key elements in sports for people with disability, including wheelchair basketball. Further scientific studies to validate classification systems are needed. This article describes the most relevant research,…

Reliability refers to the reproducibility of values of a test, assay or other measurement in repeated trials on the same individuals. Better reliability implies better precision of single measurements and better tracking of changes in measurements…

Efforts to understand human physiology through the study of champion athletes and record performances have been ongoing for about a century. For endurance sports three main factors-maximal oxygen consumption (.VO(2,max)), the so-called 'lactate…

Studies of anaerobic interval training can be divided into 2 categories. The first category (the older studies) examined interval training at a fixed work-rate. They measured the time limit or the number of repetitions the individual was able to…

In previously untrained individuals, endurance training improves peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), increases capillary density of working muscle, raises blood volume and decreases heart rate during exercise at the same absolute intensity. In contrast,…

Field-based team sports, such as soccer, rugby and hockey are popular worldwide. There have been many studies that have investigated the physiology of these sports, especially soccer. However, some fitness components of these field-based team sports…

Once thought to be the consequence of oxygen lack in contracting skeletal muscle, the glycolytic product lactate is formed and utilised continuously under fully aerobic conditions. 'Cell-cell' and 'intracellular lactate shuttle' concepts describe…

The perception of effort during exercise and its relationship to fatigue is still not well understood. Although several scales have been developed to quantify exertion Borg's 15-point ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) scale has been adopted as a…

Wheelchair racing is one of the most popular sporting activities of individuals with spinal cord injury. Athletes with this impairment have unique changes in metabolic, cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular and thermoregulatory systems, which reduce…

The increased participation in wheelchair sports in conjunction with environmental challenges posed by the most recent Paralympic venues has stimulated interest into the study of thermoregulation of wheelchair users. This area is particularly…

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity and responsiveness of the Wheelchair Circuit, a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair Circuit at the start (T1)…

In order to investigate the influence of the level of the spinal cord injury (SCI) on anaerobic or short-term power production and propulsion technique, 23 male SCI subjects performed a 30-second sprint test on a stationary wheelchair ergometer.…