Physical fitness evaluation of paralympic winter sports sitting athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To provide normative values of physical fitness in Paralympic winter sports athletes competing in a sitting posture and to identify the components relevant for successful performance.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study with sports.


METHODS
The Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of the Italian National Olympic Committee (Rome, Italy).


METHODS
Fifteen Alpine skiers (3 BP), 16 Nordic skiers (2 BP), 10 curlers (2 BP), and 34 ISH players (7 BP).


METHODS
Curling, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and ice sledge hockey (ISH).


METHODS
Physical fitness components. Oxygen uptake peak (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak; L·min and mL·kg·min), mechanical work in a high-intensity exhaustion exercise (MW-HIE; kJ and kJ·kg), upper-body strength (N and N·kg), mean explosive power (MEP; W and W·kg) in a 10-second arm cranking ergometer Wingate test, and fat mass (FM) (% body mass) were primary outcome measures when assessed in the whole sport groups and secondary outcome measures when separating the BP from the others.


RESULTS
Based on 1-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test (P < 0.05), V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak and MW-HIE were highest in Nordic skiers (2.9 ± 0.53 L·min and 18.3 ± 3.98 kJ) and similar in ISH players and Alpine skiers (2.5 ± 0.42 and 2.3 ± 0.44 L·min and 17.4 ± 2.62 and 16.8 ± 7.41 kJ, respectively). Alpine skiers showed the highest absolute strength values (1210.1 ± 220.92 N). Curlers had the highest FM (26.2% ± 7.74%) and the lowest V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak (1.8 ± 0.35 L·min), MW-HIE (11.4 ± 2.40 kJ), and MEP (251.1 ± 67.16 W). Among the BP, Nordic skiers, ISH players, and Alpine skiers showed VO₂peak, MW-HIE, and strength equal to 3.4 ± 0.60, 2.9 ± 0.38, and 2.8 ± 0.18 L·min⁻¹ and 22.6 ± 4.04, 19.4 ± 2.84, and 18.4 ± 7.86 kJ, and 975.4 ± 115.03, 1183.4 ± 60.43, and 1279.2 ± 279.1 N, [corrected] respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Analyzing physical fitness data of athletes competing in the last 4 winter Paralympic Games, normative values are provided. The specific components that are highly developed in the BP are considered relevant for successful performance.
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Vittorio Erspamer, School of Specialization in Sport Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. marco.bernardi@uniroma1.it
Marco
M
Bernardi
Silvia
S
Carucci
Fabio
F
Faiola
Federico
F
Egidi
Claudio
C
Marini
Vincenzo
V
Castellano
Marcello
M
Faina
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006688:Hockey / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010807:Physical Endurance; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D012865:Skiing / Q000502:physiology*