Efectos del entrenamiento pliométrico sobre la resistencia cardiorrespiratoria de niños y adolescentes con síndrome de Down

Abstract

Aim

To ascertain the effects of 21 weeks of circuit training, including plyometric jumps, on cardiorespiratory fitness of youths with Down syndrome (DS).

Methods

Twenty-seven children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 years with DS participated in this study and were divided in two groups: exercise (EXE, n = 14) and control (CON, n = 13). Work time, peak values of oxygen consumption, respiratory exchange ratio, heart rate and minute ventilation of the participants were measured in pre- and post-training moments with a graded exercise treadmill test.

Results

EXE group increased all their cardiorespiratory parameters compared to baseline after 21 weeks of training (all p<.05). Additionally, and despite having similar pre-training values, EXE group showed higher values than CON group in all cardiorespiratory parameters after training (all p<.05).

Conclusion

It may be concluded that youths with DS can achieve improvements in several cardiorespiratory parameters when performing 21 weeks of training including plyometric exercises.