Table 5.
Dietary supplement application in wheelchair athletes adapted from Broad et al. (2019) [6].
| Supplement | Author | Dosage | Protocol | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caffeine | Flueck, Mettler and Perret [74] | 6 mg per kg body mass caffeine 0.5 g per kg body mass sodium citrate 120 min (sodium citrate) and 60 min (caffeine) before a test |
9 wheelchair athletes (6 male, 3 female) 4 × 1500 m time trial on wheelchair training roller (placebo, caffeine, sodium citrate, sodium citrate + caffeine) |
No significant difference in performance |
| Flueck, Lienert, Schaufelberger, Krebs and Perret [75] | 6 mg per kg body mass caffeine, 60 min before the test | 17 AB, 10 PA, 7 tetraplegic (all recreationally active) 3 min all-out test at arm crank ergometer |
Significant higher power output first 30 and 60 s (in AB and PA), average power output over 3 min not significantly altered | |
| Graham-Paulson, Perret, Watson and Goosey-Tolfrey [76] | 4 mg per kg body mass caffeine, 70 min before the test | 12 wheelchair rugby players 4 × 4 min plus 3 × 3× 20 m sprint |
Significantly faster sprint performance | |
| Graham-Paulson, Perret and Goosey-Tolfrey [77] | 2, 4 and 6 mg per kg body mass caffeine Vs. placebo |
Case study: 1 para-triathlete 20 km time trial |
TT performance increased by 2, 1.7, and 2.5% compared to the placebo | |
| Vitamin D | Flueck, Schlaepfer and Perret [78] | 6000 IU Vitamin D3 over 12 weeks followed by 12 weeks of placebo ingestion | 20 indoor wheelchair athletes (basketball and rugby); Wingate test Isometric strength test |
Significantly increased vitamin D status; no significant difference in Wingate performance, a significant increase in isometric strength in the non-dominant arm |
| Pritchett, Pritchett Stark, Broad and LaCroix [79] | <50 nmol/L: 50,000 IU/week for 8 weeks 50–75 nmol/L: 35,000 IU/week for 4 weeks Maintenance 15,000 IU/week >75 nmol/L: 15,000 IU/week |
34 wheelchair athletes Handgrip strength 20 m sprint performance |
91% of the athletes showed a sufficient vitamin D status, a significant increase in handgrip strength No change in sprint performance |
|
| Beetroot juice | Flueck, Gallo, Moelijker, Bogdanov, Bogdanova and Perret [80] | 6 mmol beetroot juice or sodium nitrate or water (placebo) | 8 handcyclists (category H2 to H4) 10 km time trial |
Significant increase in plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations, no significant effect on time to complete the trial |
| Creatine monohydrate | Perret, Mueller and Knecht [81] | 4 × 5 g/day for 6 days | 6 wheelchair athletes (4 male, 2 female) 800 m time trial |
No significant differences in performance, lactate concentration, and heart rate |
| Jacobs, Mahoney, Cohn, Sheradsky and Green [82] | 4 × 5 g/day for 7 days | 16 untrained patients with a chronic tetraplegia VO2peak test at the arm-crank ergometer |
Significant increase in VO2peak (+17.4%) and peak power (+6.7%) | |
| Carbohydrate | Spendiff and Campbell [61] | 600 mL of a low (4%) and a high (11%) carbohydrate drink, 20 min before exercise | 8 male wheelchair athletes; 1 h exercise at 65% VO2peak followed by 20 min time trial | The tendency for a greater performance |
| Fish-oil | Marques et al. [83] | 3 g fish oil (1500 mg DHA, 300 mg EPA) per day for 30 days |
8 male wheelchair basketball players; inflammation markers before and after exercise | Reduced markers of muscle damage, inflammatory disturbances, and neutrophil death |
Note: AB = able-bodied, PA = paraplegic participant.