Assessment of Maximal and Submaximal Aerobic Capacity of Wheelchair Basketball Players

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) values obtained by wheelchair basketball players under maximal exercise conditions in the laboratory and compare those to levels of intensity on the basketball court. METHODS: Five male players from the University's wheelchair basketball team volunteered to participate in this study (NWBA Class I-2, II-2, III-1). Each athlete made two visits to the Exercise Science Research Laboratories for aerobic testing using an arm crank ergometer (ACE) and treadmill (TM). The initial load for the ACE began at 10 W, increasing by 10 W every two minutes until exhaustion, at a rate of 60 rpm. The TM exercise test began with a 5 min adaptation time to find a comfortable speed, then the grade was increased 1% every two minutes until exhaustion. Heart rate (HR) was measured with a HR monitor and sent by telemetry along with the oxygen consumption to a portable device for analysis. Data collection was also done during submaximal exercise while the athletes went through 14 conditioning activities (Cond) designed to be completed within a 30 min time frame. These drills included laps around the court, partner pulls, and full court, full speed lay ups. Measures of oxygen consumption were also taken during a scrimmage (Scrim). Playing time varied from 15 to 25 min. RESULTS: The mean age, height, and weight was 23.8 years (+ 3.4), 182.4 cm (+ 9.3), and 74.2 kg (+ 12.4), respectively. Because of the limited number of subjects, the nonparametric Friedman ANOVA was employed in the statistical analysis. There was a significant difference (p ≤ .05) in the highest absolute VO2 values among the four exercise conditions (ACE = 2.45 + 0.46 L.min−1; TM = 2.71 + 0.51 L.min−1; Cond = 2.77 + 0.41 L.min−1; Scrim = 2.82 + 0.38 L.min−1. Follow up post-hoc analysis, utilizing the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, identified a significant difference between arm-crank VO2peak and the highest VO2 measures obtained during the scrimmage(mean = 2.45 and 2.82 L.min−1, respectively). No other significant differences were identified. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the importance of specificity when researching subjects who are wheelchair users. It is recommended that researchers use modalities that are closest to the subjects habituated exercise modality when eliciting max/peak physiological responses.