Feasibility of HIIT in Spinal Cord Injury

Summary

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is debilitating to an individual's health, functional capacity and quality of life. This contributes to a sedentary lifestyle and an elevated risk for cardiometabolic and hypokinetic diseases. While physical activity is promoted in persons with SCI to reduce incidence of secondary disabling conditions, a majority of individuals are inactive and have low levels of fitness. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of exercise characterized by brief, intermittent bouts of intense exercise, separated by periods of lower intensity exercise for recovery. The level of improvements in aerobic exercise capacity following HIIT are similar to moderate-intensity continuous training, but only require a fraction of the total energy and time commitment. Little research has been done on HIIT in persons with SCI, who are unable to carry out conventional lower limb HIIT exercises. An upper extremity form of HIIT that is effective, safe, and quick could be an attractive option for these individuals. The study will look at feasibility and acceptability of a 6-week HIIT program for persons with a spinal cord injury who are untrained.

Investigators will test 10 untrained individuals with SCI/D who use a manual wheelchair full time. Prior to any testing, participants will be screened and will need to obtain a signed medical release from their physician. The screening involves asking the participant the inclusion/exclusion criteria and administering two short questionnaires related to physical activity. After obtaining the release form, participants will be scheduled for their first visit. During Visit 1, baseline testing and questionnaires will be completed. The study questionnaires will address sociodemographics, pain and health measures, general health, and physical activity. Exercise testing includes an aerobic exercise stress test (conducted following American College of Sports Medicine guidelines using an electronic ergometer) and an anaerobic (maximum power output) test. After Visit 1, participants will exercise three times per week for six weeks, following a standard HIIT protocol. Two of those sessions will be supervised by a trainer, and one session will be completed on their own. After six weeks, participants will be scheduled for Visit 2 and will complete the same evaluations as Visit 1. Additionally, participants will complete evaluations on their level of satisfaction of the training program and their likelihood to continue.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Spinal Cord Diseases

Interventions

OTHER

HIIT

A handcycle or tabletop ergometer will be used for HIIT. Exercise sessions will be scheduled 3x/week for 6 weeks (2 sessions supervised, 1 session unsupervised). The HIIT goal is to achieve 10 sets of 60 second bouts of arm cycling at 90% of their PPO with 60 seconds of active recovery. Supervised exercise sessions: Measures include HR, BP, RPEs, Feeling Scale, and PPO. After warming up, individualized work/rest phases will be prescribed based on their PPO from their maximal aerobic test. Participants will be held at 90% PPO as a constant target intensity to start, shortening the work phase, and if necessary, lengthening the recovery phase. These parameters will be progressed each session. The trainer will determine when to change their work/rest parameters based off of HR and RPEs. Unsupervised exercise sessions: Participants will repeat the same HIIT protocol they performed during the previous supervised session. The bike computer automatically stores HR and PPO.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alabama at Birmingham

  collaborator OTHER

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Pittsburgh

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Alicia Koontz, PhD · University of Pittsburgh

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-01-02

Primary Completion

2019-08-31

Completion

2019-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations