OVERVIEW
To date, able body athletes have been heavily researched in regards to nutritional demands of performance, training load monitoring, and training program design. However, much less literature exists in regards to paraplegic athlete (athletes with spinal cord injury). These athletes present a unique challenge in fitness testing, exercise training, and energy availability with nutritional demands. Many of the sa:me considerations with able body sports do also apply to paraplegic athletes including the timing of testing during the season and the specific order of testing. However, compared to able body athletes, evaluation of aerobic fitness component provides the assessment of wheelchair-dependent athletes with a possibility of improving the pushing performance and techniques of wheeling. However, this also means that alternative exercises need to be explored to reduce overtraining while still maintaining fitness. When individuals have a spinal cord injury, they often receive nutrition counseling that primarily examines weight management, given the sudden reduction in energy needs. However, when these individuals transition to being an athlete, their energy needs increase compared to sedentary individuals with a spinal cord injury. Exercise professionals will work with this population and need to be prepared to consider multiple aspects in regard to testing and exercise prescription.
CASE STUDY:
You have been approached by a university paraplegic basketball team to assess their cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, and body composition over the course of a season. Outline explicitly how and when you would conduct your assessment. Also, the coach asks for alternative ways of improving the cardiovascular levels of his players while having his players decrease their body fat percentage. Explain at least 2 different methods of cardiovascular exercise and suggest methods of decreasing body fat percentage for these athletes. Be thorough in your analysis of each cardiovascular mode.
