Data and Statistical Analysis

Injury scores from neurological examination were transformed into ordinal number, with C1 corresponding to 1 and T1 corresponding to 9, etc. Peak aerobic capacity (VO₂peak), peak minute ventilation (V_Epeak), peak respiratory exchange ratio (RERpeak), and peak heart rate (HRpeak) were derived from 30-second averages. Differences were calculated via a paired t-test; relations between aerobic capacity and injury characteristics were assessed with linear regression. Data are presented as means with standard errors. A P level of less than 0.05 was considered significant.