Paralympic athletes (PA) appear to be more prone to chronic overuse injuries from daily wheelchair or crutch use. Over half of these injuries are shoulder related which can deleteriously impact quality of life. Adaptive powerlifters (AP) are a subdivision of Paralympic athletes and are at a higher risk for catastrophic injuries as compared to their counterparts, due to the compound of fatigue and lifting of maximal weights. For this reason, it is vital to have well-designed training plans for these athletes in order to preserve quality of life and maximize performance in competition. Unfortunately, there is a lack of literature on training adaptive athletes for performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to collect and analyze monitoring data of a para-powerlifter preparing for competition over the course of a six-month macrocycle. Specifically, the intention is to 1) explore options in adaptive monitoring measures for the adaptive athlete community via para-powerlifting 2) analyze trends in the training process with such monitoring methods in fatigue and performance and 3) examine efficient and safe training methods and practices for para-powerlifting. The major findings of this dissertation are 1.) Hand grip dynamometry may be a valid monitoring tool used to gain clarity on neuromuscular fatigue within para-powerlifters. 2.) Barbell velocities may reveal trends in fatigue and recovery over the course of a training cycle for para-powerlifters. 3.) Para-powerlifters and para-athletes training for upper-body power development should likely perform bench press using a strap to secure them to the bench for enhanced stability. The significant and consistently increased force outputs the added stability enables the athlete to utilize may bring more pronounced training adaptations towards their goals. This dissertation is exploratory in nature and much more research needs to be done to give the adaptive athlete population adequate information and tools for their long-term success and safety.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:44:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JefersonTPR_DISSERT.pdf: 1206303 bytes, checksum: 925c332309b72a390145b34b32b2ac27 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-21 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Introduction: The sport practiced by people with disabilities has been growing in recent years. Consequently, advances in assessment and training methods have emerged. However, the paralympic sport keeps in tow these advances, with few specific studies that consider disability as intervening factor. The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique that has proven to be capable of modulating brain function. Studies show beneficial effects of tDCS on muscle strength, power and fatigue during exercise. Objective: Investigate de the effect of tDCS on movement control in para-powerlifters. Methods: Eight subjects underwent two sessions of motion capture, which previously applied the anodic tDCS or sham sessions in the cerebellum. Three movements were performed with increasing load between 90-95% of 1MR. The movements were recorded by an 10 infrared cameras system which reconstructed the 3D trajectory of markers placed on the bar. Results: There have been changes between the anodic and sham conditions over bar level (initial, final, maximum during the eccentric and concentric phase) and in the difference between the final and initial bar level. Moreover, there was difference in bar level (final and during the eccentric phase) comparing athletes amputees and les autres. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that tDCS applied prior to the exercise over the cerebellum in para-powerlifters acts differently according to disability / Introdu??o: O esporte praticado por pessoas com defici?ncia vem crescendo nos ?ltimos anos. Consequentemente, avan?os nos m?todos de avalia??o e treinamento t?m surgido. Por?m, o esporte paral?mpico segue a reboque destes avan?os, com poucos estudos espec?ficos que considerem a defici?ncia como fator interveniente. A estimula??o transcraniana por corrente cont?nua (ETCC) ? uma t?cnica que vem se mostrando capaz de modular a fun??o cerebral. Estudos mostram efeitos ben?ficos da ETCC sobre a for?a muscular, fadiga e pot?ncia durante exerc?cio. Objetivo: Investigar o efeito da ETCC sobre o controle do movimento em para-halterofilistas. Metodologia: Oito sujeitos foram submetidos a duas sess?es de captura de movimentos, sendo aplicado previamente as sess?es ETCC an?dica ou sham no cerebelo. Foram realizados tr?s movimentos com carga crescente entre 90-95% de 1RM. Os movimentos foram gravados por um sistema com 10 c?meras infravermelho e tiveram reconstru?da a trajet?ria 3D de marcadores colocados na barra. Resultados: Houveram mudan?as entre as condi??es an?dica e sham sobre os desn?veis inicial, final, m?ximos durante a fase exc?ntrica e conc?ntrica e sobre a diferen?a entre o desn?vel inicial e final. Al?m disto, houve diferen?a no desn?vel final e durante a fase exc?ntrica ao comparar os atletas amputados e les autres. Conclus?o: Os achados do presente estudo sugerem que a ETCC aplicada previamente ao exerc?cio sobre o cerebelo em para-halterofilistas atua de forma diferenciada de acordo com a defici?ncia