Impact of 6-Week Battle Rope Sprint Interval Training on Endurance and Force Parameters in Wheelchair Basketball Athletes

Leitch, B, Babraj, J, and Marley, A. Impact of 6-week battle rope sprint interval training on endurance and force parameters in wheelchair basketball athletes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2026—Little research has been completed investigating conditioning modalities in wheelchair athletes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if battle rope (BR) sprint interval training (SIT) induces beneficial physiological adaptations linked to successful wheelchair basketball performance. Eighteen wheelchair basketball athletes (IWBF classification <2.5 n = 6; IWBF classification >3.0, n = 12; age = 23 ± 7 years) volunteered to participate and completed 6 weeks of BR SIT or a control where normal training was maintained. Battle rope sprint interval training consisted of twice-weekly sessions of 4 × 15 seconds maximal effort BR sprints using the alternating whip exercise with 45-second rest given between each bout with all training separated by 48 hours minimum. At baseline and postintervention all subjects completed a 12-minute push test (12MPT), handgrip dynamometry, a modified t test, and a linear 20 m sprint with splits at 0 m, 5 m, 10, and 20 m. After training, BR SIT significantly increased distance covered during the 12MPT (baseline: 2,547 ± 510 m; postintervention: 2,840 ± 413 m; p < 0.001), whereas there was no significant difference in the control group (baseline: 2,391 ± 471 m; postintervention: 2,377 ± 475 m; p = 0.808). No other metrics significantly improved compared with control ( p > 0.05). Endurance is vital to wheelchair basketball performance because of the requirement to complete repeated bouts of high intensity activity. Battle rope sprint interval training is a low-cost, easily accessible training modality, which may improve endurance performance in wheelchair athletes.