Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate and classify the aerobic capacity (AC) of wheelchair basketball (WB) players. For that, 16 WB athletes (8 men / 8 women), which has the following characteristics: age (27.2 ± 7.4 years); body mass (59.0 ± 13.5 kg); Height (153.4 ± 21.3 cm); time of disability (20.3 ± 12.3 years); time of sports practice (9.0 ± 6.9 years). All of participants underwent for the anthropometric and AC variables assessment through the 12-minute aerobic test for wheelchair users. After the analysis, there was observed average maximal oxygen uptake of 36.0 ± 3.5 ml/kg/min. In the qualitative analysis, most of the athletes (62.5%) presented an "Excellent" AC classification (p = 0.02). Therefore, it is concluded that the athletes presented higher AC than expected, rated as "Excellent" for the most of these, suggesting that the regular practice of WB produces important systemic adaptations to the cardiorespiratory system.
KEYWORDS
Physical fitness; Exercise test; Disabled persons; Paralympics sports