THE EFFECT OF TRAINING ON CARDIOVASCULAR-RESPONSES TO ARM EXERCISE ININDIVIDUALS WITH TETRAPLEGIA

The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses t o maximal and submaximal arm-cranking exercise in 21 individuals with tetraplegia (TP) and to evaluate the effect of a 3 and 6-month trainin g period (mean frequency of 1.5 h . week(-1), mean intensity at 35% of the training time above 60% of the heart rate reserve) on these physi ological responses. The TP were divided into 8 trained subjects (T), 7 untrained subjects (U) who started their training at the beginning of the study, and 6 sedentary subjects (S). All the subjects were tested at the beginning of training and after 6 months, whereas T and U were also tested in between, at 3 months. During maximal exercise, peak po wer output and peak oxygen uptake per kilogram bodymass were significa ntly higher in T (49.9 W and 14.2 ml . min(-1). kg(-1) respectively) c ompared to U (20.7 W and 8.8 ml . min(-1). kg(-1) respectively) and S (15.9 W and 7.4 ml . min(-1). kg(-1) respectively), whereas all other peak responses showed tendencies to be higher in T. This is most likel y to have been the result of participation in sport and the effect of it on performance capacity in T, although differences in completeness of the lesion may have influenced the results, No significant differen ces were found for submaximal and maximal responses after 3 or 6 month s of training in either T and U or in S, This may have been due on the one hand to the vulnerability of the subjects to diseases and injurie s and on the other hand to the low frequency of training. On an indivi dual basis, however, remarkable improvement was observed during the tr aining period, especially for individuals in the U group. These result s would suggest that a 3 or 6-month training period has no measurable positive effect on the fitness level of TP.