title: Effects of abdominal binding on field-based exercise responses in Paralympic athletes with cervical spinal cord injury.
abstract: Abdominal binding has been shown to improve resting cardiorespiratory function in individuals with cervical SCI, but it is not yet clear whether this approach improves the exercise response.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effects of abdominal binding on parameters relating to wheelchair sports performance in highly-trained athletes with cervical SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Repeated-measures field-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten Paralympic wheelchair rugby players with motor-complete SCI (C5-C7) completed a series of exercise tests in two conditions (bound and unbound). The following parameters were assessed: agility and acceleration/deceleration performance; cardiorespiratory function and gross efficiency during submaximal wheelchair propulsion; anaerobic performance and propulsion kinematics during a 30s Wingate test; repeated sprint performance during a 10×20m test; and aerobic performance during a repeated 4min push test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to unbound, 6 of 17 field-based performance measures changed significantly with binding. Time to complete the acceleration/deceleration test decreased (p=0.005), whereas distances covered during the repeated 4min push test increased (p<0.043). Binding elicited significant reductions in minute ventilation during submaximal wheelchair propulsion (p=0.040) as well as blood lactate accumulation and limb discomfort during the second set of the repeated 4min push test (p=0.012 and 0.022). There were no statistically significant effects of binding on any other variable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abdominal binding improves some important measures of field-based performance in highly-trained athletes with cervical SCI. The changes may be attributable, at least in part, to improvements in trunk stability, ventilatory efficiency and/or haemodynamics.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance, Brunel University, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance, Brunel University, UK.
authors.forename: Ian G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences, The Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, Loughborough University, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Goosey-Tolfrey
authors.affiliation: School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences, The Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, Loughborough University, UK.
authors.forename: Barry S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance, Brunel University, UK. Electronic address: lee.romer@brunel.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Lee M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Romer
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D058128:Compression Bandages; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D064846:Sports for Persons with Disabilities; D014910:Wheelchairs; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: Biomechanics; Exercise physiology; Testing; Tetraplegic; Upper body exercise; Wheelchair rugby