Report

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).

Lead academic:
Dr Christof Leicht
Additional academics:
Professor Vicky Tolfrey,
Funder:
The Peter Harrison Foundation

Lactate and ventilatory thresholds are important markers for exercise intensity and can be used to prescribe exercise, or to monitor the progress of an exercise programme.

Methods

  • 10 athletes with tetraplegia and 9 athletes with paraplegia performed a standardised incremental treadmill exercise step test to exhaustion.
  • 4 of the most frequent exercise thresholds were determined: the “aerobic” and “anaerobic” blood lactate thresholds, the ventilatory threshold, and the respiratory compensation point (RCP).

Main findings and applications

  • The blood lactate thresholds were determined in 34 of 38 cases, ventilatory thresholds and RCPs in 31 of 38 cases.
  • Thresholds expressed as the percentage of peak capacity did not differ between athletes with paraplegia and tetraplegia despite altered breathing in the latter, which could theoretically affect ventilatory thresholds.
  • Measuring blood lactate leads to a higher threshold determination rate when compared with ventilatory data and therefore has a practical advantage over ventilatory thresholds.

Reference

Leicht C.A., Lavin J. Griggs K.E., Tolfrey K. and GooseyTolfrey V.L. (2014). Blood lactate and ventilatory thresholds in wheelchair athletes with tetraplegia and paraplegia. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 114(8): 1635-43. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-014-2886-x