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The verification phase and reliability of physiological parameters in peak testing of elite wheelchair athletes

journal contribution
posted on 2012-11-16, 11:44 authored by Christof LeichtChristof Leicht, Keith Tolfrey, John P. Lenton, Nicolette BishopNicolette Bishop, Vicky Goosey-TolfreyVicky Goosey-Tolfrey
The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the value of a verification phase (VER) in a peak testing protocol and (2) to assess the reliability of peak physiological variables in wheelchair athletes. On two separate days, eight tetraplegic (TETRA), eight paraplegic (PARA) and eight non-spinal cord-injured (NON-SCI) athletes performed treadmill ergometry, consisting of a graded exercise test to exhaustion (GXT) followed by a VER. Peak oxygen uptake _V O2peak was compared (1) between GXT and VER and (2) between test days. _V O2peak did not differ between GXT and VER (P = 0.27), and coefficients of variation between GXT and VER were in the range of 2.9 and 6.4 % for all subgroups. Coefficients of variation of _V O2peak between test days were 9.3 % (TETRA), 4.5 % (PARA) and 3.3 % (NON-SCI). It is therefore concluded that whilst a VER can be used for a more robust determination of _V O2peak, a deviation of up to *6 % between GXT and VER should be considered as acceptable. For between-day analyses, relatively large changes in _V O2peak are required to confirm ‘‘true’’ differences, especially in TETRA athletes. This may be due to their lower aerobic capacity, which results in a larger relative variation compared with the other subgroups.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Citation

LEICHT, C.A. ... et al., 2013. The verification phase and reliability of physiological parameters in peak testing of elite wheelchair athletes. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 113 (2), pp.337-345.

Publisher

© Springer Verlag

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publication date

2013

Notes

Closed access. This article was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology [© Springer Verlag] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-012-2441-6

ISSN

1439-6319

eISSN

1439-6327

Language

  • en

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