Profile of aerobic fitness and muscle power of athletes on the Brazilian National Paralympic Five-a-side Football Team

Abstract

We aimed to profile the aerobic fitness and muscle power of five-a-side football athletes on the Brazilian National Paralympic Team. The sample consisted of 12 male Paralympic athletes on the Brazilian National five-a-side football team, including 3 sighted goalkeepers and 9 blind (B1 category) outfield players. The results were: peak oxygen uptake (VO₂ peak), 51.8 ± 5.8 ml/kg/min; maximum speed, 17.1 ± 1.4 km/h and VO₂ ventilatory threshold (VT), 40.2 ± 6.5 ml/kg/min The peak torque values (Nm) of the right and left legs were 241 ± 48 and 234 ± 45 for 60° extension, 127 ± 17 and 123 ± 16 for 60° flexion, 170 ± 29 and 162 ± 28 for 180° extension, 113 ± 13 and 109 ± 13 for 180° flexion, 130 ± 20 and 129 ± 23 for 300° extension, and 118 ± 17 and 115 ± 18 for 300° flexion, respectively. The five-a-side football players on the Brazilian National Paralympics Team exhibited physiologically normal responses to physical training related to the observed physical capacities as shown by the aerobic fitness and muscle power results observed. These results suggest that blind individuals can improve their physical capacity regardless of their visual impairment.