Research outputs

Find out more about some of the research taking place in the Peter Harrison Centre at present. Most of our funded research outputs are listed here and can be searched by academic name or research theme/discipline.

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The activity profiles of elite Wheelchair Rugby athletes

In order to prescribe athletes with more specific, individualised training programmes we need to understand the demands of the sport, but more importantly how the demands differ between athletes.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Cooling athletes with a spinal cord injury

Examining the scientific literature that addresses the application of cooling strategies in individuals with a SCI.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Individualised internal and external training load relationships in elite Wheelchair Rugby players

Establishing the relationship between measures of internal and external training load specific to Wheelchair Rugby.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Miniaturised data loggers and radio frequency systems for tracking wheelchair activities

Investigating the accuracy and reliability of wheel mounted miniaturised data loggers (MDL)

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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A novel indoor tracking system to explore the demands of wheelchair sports

Understanding the physical demands placed on athletes during competition is a key requirement to help practitioners prescribe specific, individualised training programmes.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Thermoregulatory responses during competitive Wheelchair Rugby

Determining whether a player’s physical impairment or activity profile impacts on Wheelchair Rugby performance.

Funder: Peter Harrison Foundation

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The use of inertial sensors for measuring wheelchair sports activities

The use of innovative technology has become a key feature of research that has improved knowledge and performance levels in wheelchair court sports.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Athletes with tetraplegia achieve their highest heart rates when exercising on court

The physiological assessment of highly-trained athletes is a cornerstone of many scientific support programs. It is well known that tetraplegia results in lower maximum heart rates due to the innervation of the heart which is affected by spinal cord injury.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Sports wheelchair configuration: A review of the literature

The wheelchair is clearly the most critical part of equipment used by a wheelchair athlete and can have a huge bearing on their sports performance

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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The effect of wheel configuration on Wheelchair Basketball mobility performance

Using the deflection test to determine the lateral stiffness of different wheel configurations.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Expert users’ perceptions of racing wheelchair design and set up

using a qualitative research design to engage directly with expert users (e.g. elite wheelchair racers, their coaches and the manufacturers of racing chairs) and discuss their perceptions of how different aspects of chair design and configuration impact upon athletic performance.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Physiological and kinematic screening of trained hand cyclists

Enabling the hand bike-user interface to be optimised with regard to efficiency and performance.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Similar exercise thresholds for athletes with paraplegia and tetraplegia

The purpose of this study was to find out whether these thresholds would occur at a similar relative exercise intensity in wheelchair athletes with either tetraplegia (wheelchair rugby athletes) or paraplegia (Wheelchair Basketball athletes).

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Field based testing of wheelchair athletes

In line with the able-bodied literature, it is recognised that performance in wheelchair sports not only rely on fitness, but also sport-specific skills, experience and technical proficiency.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Current perspectives on profiling and enhancing wheelchair court-sport performance

This review article outlined scientific evidence and current perspectives on profiling and enhancing physical performance in the court sports.

Funder: Peter Harrison Foundation

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Teach your athletes how to breathe – It may be important for wheelchair racing performance

The relationship between locomotor-respiratory coupling (the ratio between push and breathing frequency), respiratory parameters and work efficiency is not known in wheelchair athletes. This study aimed to gain further insights into the interplay between respiration and performance.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Does an abdominal binder improve performance in athletes with tetraplegia?

The following studies explored whether elastic binding of the abdomen i) influences respiratory mechanics during wheelchair propulsion and ii) improves field-based measures of fitness in highly-trained individuals with cervical SCI.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Differentiated perceived exertion and self-regulated wheelchair exercise

This study aimed to investigate the utility of the differentiated rating of perceived exertion (RPE) for the self-regulation of submaximal wheelchair propulsion in novice users.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Peak oxygen uptake from differentiated ratings of perceived exertion in wheelchair athletes

Can you predict peak oxygen uptake from differentiated ratings of perceived exertion in trained wheelchair sportspersons?

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Comparing methods of estimating body composition in highly trained wheelchair athletes

When working with Paralympic athletes the estimation of body composition is problematic because the transferability of able-bodied athletes’ normative values are questionable due to the increased fat mass and decreased bone density and lean mass often reported in these individuals.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, skinfold thickness and waist circumference: Wheelchair Rugby

Assessing body composition in ambulant and non-ambulant wheelchair games players

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as a measure of body composition

Recent findings show that DXA is a highly reproducible measure of body composition in wheelchair athletes.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Nutritional supplement use is common among athletes with a physical impairment

Assessing the use of nutritional substances for athletes with physical impairments

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Caffeine improves preloaded cycling but not handcycling 10 km time trial performance

Assessing how levels of caffeine improve preloaded cycling

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Caffeine improves 20 m sprint and a one-off 4-min push performance in Wheelchair Rugby players

Caffeine can be beneficial during short-term, endurance and repeated sprint (running) performance.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Individuals with a SCI display large inter-individual variation in caffeine absorption

Great inter-individual variability in wheelchair performance responses have been reported during a 1500 m time trial (Flueck et al., 2014), 4-min maximal push and repeated 20 m sprints following caffeine (Graham-Paulson et al., 2015), especially in individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Spinal cord injury level and the circulating cytokine response to strenuous exercise

Assessing the circulating cytokine response to strenuous exercise in varying SCI levels.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Inflammation-mediating cytokine response to acute handcycling exercise

This study investigated whether the inflammation-mediating potential of handcycling exercise can be enhanced by the addition of concurrent electrical stimulation-evoked lower-limb cycling.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Effects of hybrid and handcycle exercise on cardiovascular disease risk factors

Researching the effects of hybrid cycle and handcycle exercise on cardiovascular disease risk factors in persons with a spinal cord injury: A randomised controlled trial

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Plasma cytokine and exertional responses: exercise intensity and volume of exercising muscle mass

The smaller muscle cross-sectional area of the upper versus lower limb may act to augment intracellular signalling for IL-6 release per unit of contracting muscle when performing a given workload.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Plasma cytokine and exertional responses: exercise intensity and volume of exercising muscle mass

Assessing plasma cytokine and exertional responses in relation to exercise intensity and volume of exercising muscle mass during arm-crank ergometry.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Taking a hot bath can induce some of the positive immune changes seen during exercise

Investigating whether hot baths can induce positive immune changes similar to exercise: extra benefits for individuals with tetraplegia

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Muscle mass and body temperature in the inflammatory response to upper-body exercise and heat

Chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with a range of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Physiology and biomechanics of forwards and reverse wheelchair propulsion

Wheelchair mobility during the court sports can be considered multidirectional with lots of braking and sharp changes of direction performed.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Efficiency of hand-rim wheelchair-propulsion

Wheelchair propulsion is relatively inefficient physiologically in comparison to other forms of locomotion such as running, cycling and handcycling.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Posture and Mobility Group (PMG) Project

In 2015, the PHC received funding from the Posture and Mobility Group to complete an exploratory study exploring scapula kinematics and shoulder girdle forces during manual wheelchair propulsion.

Funder: Posture and Mobility Group (PMG)

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Understanding propulsive shoulder forces and scapular kinematics during manual wheelchair use

Shoulder pain and inefficient propulsion are common and disabling problems for wheelchair users.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Changes in physiology and technique during different modes of wheelchair propulsion

Laboratory-based testing is a popular means for conducting research due to the controlled environment it creates for researchers.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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Wheelchair tennis improves well-being of participants in developing countries

The purpose of this study was to investigate what impact playing wheelchair tennis had on people from developing countries.

Funder: The Peter Harrison Foundation

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