Cargando…

Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury

Background: This study aimed at comparing bioenergetics and biomechanical parameters between athletes with tetraplegia and paraplegia riding race handbikes at submaximal speeds in ecological conditions. Methods: Five athletes with tetraplegia (C6-T1, 43 ± 6 yrs, 63 ± 14 kg) and 12 athletes with para...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fischer, Gabriela, Figueiredo, Pedro, Ardigò, Luca Paolo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7077182/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32013128
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports8020016
_version_ 1783507374061912064
author Fischer, Gabriela
Figueiredo, Pedro
Ardigò, Luca Paolo
author_facet Fischer, Gabriela
Figueiredo, Pedro
Ardigò, Luca Paolo
author_sort Fischer, Gabriela
collection PubMed
description Background: This study aimed at comparing bioenergetics and biomechanical parameters between athletes with tetraplegia and paraplegia riding race handbikes at submaximal speeds in ecological conditions. Methods: Five athletes with tetraplegia (C6-T1, 43 ± 6 yrs, 63 ± 14 kg) and 12 athletes with paraplegia (T4-S5, 44 ± 7 yrs, 72 ± 12 kg) rode their handbikes at submaximal speeds under metabolic measurements. A deceleration method (coasting down) was applied to calculate the rolling resistance and frontal picture of each participant was taken to calculate air resistance. The net overall Mechanical Efficiency (Eff) was calculated by dividing external mechanical work to the corresponding Metabolic Power. Results: Athletes with tetraplegia reached a lower aerobic speed (4.7 ± 0.6 m s(−1) vs. 7.1 ± 0.9 m s(−1), P = 0.001) and Mechanical Power (54 ± 15 W vs. 111 ± 25 W, P = 0.001) compared with athletes with paraplegia. The metabolic cost was around 1 J kg(−1) m(−1) for both groups. The Eff values (17 ± 2% vs. 19 ± 3%, P = 0.262) suggested that the handbike is an efficient assisted locomotion device. Conclusion: Handbikers with tetraplegia showed lower aerobic performances but a similar metabolic cost compared with handbikers with paraplegia at submaximal speeds in ecological conditions.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7077182
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-70771822020-03-20 Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury Fischer, Gabriela Figueiredo, Pedro Ardigò, Luca Paolo Sports (Basel) Article Background: This study aimed at comparing bioenergetics and biomechanical parameters between athletes with tetraplegia and paraplegia riding race handbikes at submaximal speeds in ecological conditions. Methods: Five athletes with tetraplegia (C6-T1, 43 ± 6 yrs, 63 ± 14 kg) and 12 athletes with paraplegia (T4-S5, 44 ± 7 yrs, 72 ± 12 kg) rode their handbikes at submaximal speeds under metabolic measurements. A deceleration method (coasting down) was applied to calculate the rolling resistance and frontal picture of each participant was taken to calculate air resistance. The net overall Mechanical Efficiency (Eff) was calculated by dividing external mechanical work to the corresponding Metabolic Power. Results: Athletes with tetraplegia reached a lower aerobic speed (4.7 ± 0.6 m s(−1) vs. 7.1 ± 0.9 m s(−1), P = 0.001) and Mechanical Power (54 ± 15 W vs. 111 ± 25 W, P = 0.001) compared with athletes with paraplegia. The metabolic cost was around 1 J kg(−1) m(−1) for both groups. The Eff values (17 ± 2% vs. 19 ± 3%, P = 0.262) suggested that the handbike is an efficient assisted locomotion device. Conclusion: Handbikers with tetraplegia showed lower aerobic performances but a similar metabolic cost compared with handbikers with paraplegia at submaximal speeds in ecological conditions. MDPI 2020-01-29 /pmc/articles/PMC7077182/ /pubmed/32013128 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports8020016 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Fischer, Gabriela
Figueiredo, Pedro
Ardigò, Luca Paolo
Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title_full Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title_fullStr Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title_full_unstemmed Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title_short Bioenergetics and Biomechanics of Handcycling at Submaximal Speeds in Athletes with a Spinal Cord Injury
title_sort bioenergetics and biomechanics of handcycling at submaximal speeds in athletes with a spinal cord injury
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7077182/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32013128
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sports8020016
work_keys_str_mv AT fischergabriela bioenergeticsandbiomechanicsofhandcyclingatsubmaximalspeedsinathleteswithaspinalcordinjury
AT figueiredopedro bioenergeticsandbiomechanicsofhandcyclingatsubmaximalspeedsinathleteswithaspinalcordinjury
AT ardigolucapaolo bioenergeticsandbiomechanicsofhandcyclingatsubmaximalspeedsinathleteswithaspinalcordinjury