Article

Elite-adapted sports performance has considerably improved over the last
decades and winning or losing races at Paralympic Games is often a matter of a
split second. In other words, every single detail counts, which underlines the
necessity of optimizing training interventions and equipment for athletes in
order to achieve top-class performance. However, to date, studies which include
Paralympic elite athletes are scarce. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search
was performed to identify potential strategies and interventions in order to
optimize elite-adapted wheelchair sports performance, whereas the focus lay on
respiratory muscle training (RMT), cooling (CI) and nutritional interventions
(NI) as well as on individual equipment adaptations (IEA). RESULTS: The total
number of studies identified for the final analysis was six for RMT, two for CI,
three for NI and seven for IEA, respectively. Results point predominantly towards
performance enhancing benefits for CI and IEA, whereas NI and RMT provided
inhomogenous findings. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to the able-bodied population,
research in the field of Paralympic elite sport is scarce. CI and IEA seem to
have significant performance enhancing benefits, whereas NI and RMT revealed
controversial findings. However, due to the limited number of elite athletes with
a spinal cord injury available to participate in scientific studies, general
conclusions are difficult to make at this stage and in daily practice
recommendations are still given mainly on an individual basis or based on
personal experiences of coaches, athletes and scientists. Implications for
Rehabilitaton Based on the knowledge gained in elite sports, wheelchair equipment
could be optimized also for daily use. Elite sports performance could inspire
wheelchair users to achieve their personal fitness goals.

Langue : ANGLAIS