The Torque Referenced to a Perceived Exertion Level Is Affected by the Type of Movement in Men With Spinal Cord Injury

• Published in: Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 314 - 323
• Main Authors: Neto, Frederico Ribeiro, Costa, Rodrigo Rodrigues Gomes, Avelar, Bruna Pereira, de Oliveira Junior, Silvio Assis, de Toledo, Aline Martins, Carregaro, Rodrigo Luiz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Allen Press Inc 01-01-2020; American Spinal Injury Association
• Subjects: Adult; Bone surgery; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise; Exercise Test; Gravity; Humans; Male; Mens health; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Muscle strength; Muscle Strength - physiology; Muscle Strength Dynamometer; Orthopedics; Paralysis; Physical Exertion - physiology; Physical fitness; Proffered Papers; Rehabilitation; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology; Sports training; Strength training; Torque; Upper Extremity; Young Adult; muscle strength; strength training; warm-up exercise; exercise test; perception
• ISSN: 1082-0744; 1945-5763
• DOI: 10.46292/sci19-00057

To compare a standardized submaximal intensity (based on the rate of perceived exertion [RPE]) with the percentage of the average and peak torque during a familiarization session in individuals with different spinal cord injury (SCI) levels in gravity-resisted and gravity-assisted movements.
This was a cross-sectional study at a rehabilitation hospital. Thirty-six individuals stratified in tetraplegia (TP), high paraplegia (HP), and low paraplegia (LP) groups and 12 matched control participants (CG) were enrolled in the study. Participants performed a maximum strength test using isokinetic dynamometry. The familiarization consisted of 10 submaximal repetitions with a level 2 (i.e., 20% of the maximum score) in the Resistance Exercise Scale (OMNI-RES). Fisher's exact test compared the percentages of the average torque (%AT
) and peak torque (%PT
) of the familiarization (based on the peak torque during the maximum strength tests) to the %AT
and %PT
attained with 20% of RPE. The coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated to assess the torque dispersion during each familiarization set.
The %AT
was lower for gravity-assisted compared to gravity-resisted movements for HP, LP, and CG (
≤ .05). The CV was significantly lower in gravity-resisted movements during familiarization for TP, LP, and CG.
Different RPE levels should be adopted for gravity-resisted or gravity-assisted upper limb exercises to maintain the same relative intensity during a familiarization session.