Open AccessEffects of Heavy Resistance Training on Strength and Power in Upper Extremities in Wheelchair Athletes
Author(s) -
Stephan Turbanski,
Dietmar Schmidtbleicher
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of strength and conditioning research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.569
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1533-4287
pISSN - 1064-8011
DOI - 10.1519/jsc.0b013e3181bdddda
Subject(s) - wheelchair , athletes , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , resistance training , strength training , medicine , spinal cord injury , psychology , spinal cord , computer science , psychiatry , world wide web
Little is known about strength training in subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI), especially in athletes performing competitive sports. Sixteen male subjects participated in this study-8 with SCI and 8 healthy physical education students (control subjects). The 8-week program consisted of heavy-resistance exercise performed twice per week with 10 to 12 repetitions in 5 sets. Subjects' performances were tested in static and in dynamic conditions concerning several strength and power parameters. Furthermore, we tested 10-m sprinting performance in wheelchair athletes. Overall, wheelchair athletes and control subjects achieved similar results; in almost all parameters both groups improved considerably in post-testing. Regarding percentages in most strength and power parameters, wheelchair athletes showed a tendency to benefit more from the strength training performed in the present study. Using analyses of group differences, however, only the comparison of effects on rate of force development (p = 0.010) resulted in a significant higher improvement for wheelchair athletes. In contrast to previous assumptions about minor adaptation capacities to training exercises in patients with SCI, our study proved clear effects of strength training. In conclusion, we suggest that heavy resistance training should be of increasing importance in wheelchair sports.