Evaluation of wheelchair users in the field and in laboratory: Feasibility of progressive tests and critical velocity tests

Abstract The feasibility and relevance of three field tests previously studied in running — Montreal progressive Track Test (MTT), critical velocity test ( V c ) and maximal velocity with lactate steady state ( V ch ) — were investigated for wheelchair exercises performed on a 400 m outdoor track. Ten wheelchair athletes from the Handisport Federation of Senegal participated in this field study. The MTT consisted of a progressive exercise with a 1 km h −1 velocity increment every 2 mins. The velocity at the last stage of the MTT (maximal aerobic speed, MAS) was 14±1 km h −1 . The critical velocity ( V c ) was calculated as equal to the slope of the linear relationship between exhaustion time and the distance covered during three exercises at constant velocities until exhaustion (85, 90 and 95% of the MAS). The V c was equal to 11.9±0.9 km h −1 . The maximal velocity with lactate steady state ( V ch ) was calculated from the lactate slope during two exercises at 65 and 75% of the MAS. Whereas the MTT and the critical velocity test were feasibile, the measurements of V ch could not be used because of many absurd results. A second study in laboratory, which was carried out on 13 wheelchair users, showed that the concept of critical velocity and critical power can be used in wheelchair testing on a treadmill (TM) or in arm cranking (AC). This study also showed that the maximal oxygen uptake ( V O 2 max ) and the heart rate (HR) at the end of an incremental exercise were similar with TM and AC. Relevance to industry The results of this study provide some ergonomic recommendations for the design of the wheelchairs.