Effect of Inspiratory Muscle Training on Cardiopulmonary Capacity in Wheelchair Rugby Athletes

Effect of Inspiratory Muscle Training on Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Pulmonary Function, Sports Skills, and Quality of Life in Wheelchair Rugby Athletes

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about in inspiratory muscle training on cardiorespiratory capacity, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, sports skills, and quality of life of wheelchair rugby athletes. The main question[s] it aims to answer are:

• Are the wheelchair rugby athletes show better results in cardiopulmonary assessment tests in safety and effort, in the post- inspiratory muscle training period, when compared to their results in the pre-inspiratory muscle training period?
• Is inspiratory muscle training capable of increasing ventilatory capacity at rest and during exertion?

Participants will be evaluated through questionnaires, laboratory and field tests, such as:

• Pulmonary function (spirometry),
• Inspiratory muscle strength (manovacuometry),
• Cardiorespiratory capacity under exertion (cardiopulmonary exercise test),
• Wheelchair rugby specific skills (Beck Battery)
• Quality of life (WHOQOL-DIS) .

People with physical-motor disabilities, dependent on wheelchairs, have less mobility compared to people without disabilities, which can, in turn, have a direct and negative impact on the aerobic capacity and health of these individuals. Wheelchair Rugby (WCR) practitioners, as well as other sports, seek constant performance improvement, given the need to achieve better results in competitions. There has been an increase in the evaluation of parameters that may be related to better sports performance, as well as interventions that improve such performance. In relation to collective sports, such as WCR, the evaluation of important parameters such as maximum oxygen consumption during effort, maximum heart rate achieved and anaerobic limits, which enable adequate training adjustment, has gained prominence. Different interventions, such as inspiratory muscle training (IMT), aim to improve respiratory capacity and, consequently, cardiopulmonary capacity in savings and maximum effort. Therefore, this is a clinical study, with the objective of verifying the impact of IMT on cardiopulmonary performance, spirometric variables at rest and during effort, performance in field tests (Beck Battery) and quality of life in WCR athletes. Rugby athletes will be recruited in wheelchairs from teams in Rio de Janeiro, to perform two daily sessions of 30 forced inspirations followed by long, but not maximum, expirations, with a load adjusted between 50% and 60% of maximum inspiratory muscle strength, five times a week for six weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male gender,
• Age equal to or greater than 18 years,
• Presence of quadriplegia or tetra-equivalence,
• Wheelchair Rugby training time equal to or greater than six months,
• Participation in at least one official competition in the previous year the search.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The presence of musculoskeletal injury or pain that could interfere with the performance of movements in the wheelchair,
• Respiratory infections in the three weeks before the evaluations.