Resistance Training On Strength And Power In Upper Extremities In Wheelchair Athletes

Submitted By jpeters0432
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Journal of Strength and Conditioning

Effects of heavy resistance training on strength and power in upper extremities in wheelchair athletes.

I chose the article Effects of heavy resistance training on strength and power in upper extremities in wheelchair athletes, because it seemed like and interesting research topic. As a professional you encounter all types of athletes, for example wheelchair athletes. It is important that you know the proper way to train them and what works to improve their athletic performance. This research article they want to see the effects of heavy resistance training on strength and power in upper extremities in wheelchair athletes. I think this research article is important to this sub discipline because you have to know how to train spinal cord injury athletes such as wheel chair athletes. This is a great article for strength and conditioning coaches who train wheelchair athletes or will encounter them in the near future. Due to the different locations of spinal cord injuries, it is important to learn different techniques. Prior to this research topic researchers examined the article “physical activity methods for spinal cord injury athletes” referencing this article for questions and ideas. One question that came up was; would wheelchair athletes have an

advantage due to their lifestyle . However with the question being raised they still went fourth with the experiment. In the beginning of the study there were 12 (SCI) participants but 4 were unable to complete all training sessions and withdrew from the study. Researchers gathered 16 male, 8 with spinal cord injuries (SCI) 8 healthy physical education students these were control subjects.
Methods
The 8-week program entailed the subjects engaging in heavy resistance training twice a week with 10-12 repetitions in 5sets. Participants with SCI were current competitors in wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball in the German leagues. They have been athletes for at least 2 years and are training 2 to 3 times per week. These athletes all have experience in resistance training but only with stationary machines not free weights or barbells. Wheelchair athletes are not familiar with supervised strength training lasting over a longer period of weeks. The wheelchair athletes were categorized the severity of their motor impairments, 2 athletes were classified as tretraplegic and 6 as paraplegic. A tetreplegic is someone who has a spinal cord injury above the first thoracic vertebra this type of injury affects the cervical spine nerves in all limbs. On the other hand paraplegic is someone who has a spinal cord injury that occurs below the thoracic spinal nerve; which may impair leg movement to complete impairment of the legs and abdomen below the nipple line. Subjects were tested 3 times, before the 8 weeks, after the 8 weeks and 1 week after the 8 weeks. The measurement device they used to measure power was the throw test. They used the bench throw with both arms on the smith machine, subjects were asked to throw the barbell as explosive as they could. They analyzed power by measuring the Vmax and Amax using a light sensor. For strength they used the bench press, participants were told to contract as fast and forcefully as possible against the a static barbell. Wheelchair subjects were also tested in a