Physical Fitness

Physical Fitness
Author: David F. Apple
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 133
Release: 1995
Genre: Exercise
ISBN: 0788133640

Offers a solid foundation in understanding the importance of physical fitness and the ways in which people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) can achieve, maintain, and enjoy keeping fit. Several different levels of SCI are covered and variations on how the desired exercises can be accomplished are included. Meant to inform SCI patients and clinicians that routines can be created to allow SCI sufferers to exercise independently. Includes papers written by experts about the importance and factors that affect physical fitness in persons with SCI. Photos.

The Physiology of Exercise in Spinal Cord Injury

The Physiology of Exercise in Spinal Cord Injury
Author: J. Andrew Taylor
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2016-12-20
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1493966642

Every year, around the world, between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI). Those with an SCI are two to five times more likely to die prematurely than people without a spinal cord injury, with worse survival rates in low- and middle-income countries. Dynamic aerobic requires integrated physiologic responses across the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, autonomic, pulmonary, thermoregulatory, and immunologic systems. Moreover, regular aerobic exercise beneficially impacts these same systems, reducing the risk for a range of diseases and maladies. This book will present comprehensive information on the unique physiologic effects of SCI and the potential role of exercise in treating and mitigating these effects. In addition, it will incorporate work from scientists across a number of disciplines and have contributors at multiple levels of investigation and across physiologic systems. Furthermore, SCI can be considered an accelerated form of aging due to the severely restricted physical inactivity imposed, usually at an early age. Therefore, the information presented may have a broader importance to the physiology of aging as it relates to inactivity. Lastly, the need for certain levels of regular aerobic exercise to engender adaptations beneficial to health is not altered by the burden of an SCI. Indeed, the amounts of exercise necessary may be even greater than the able-bodied due to ‘passive’ ambulation. This book will also address the potential health benefits for those with an SCI that can be realized if a sufficient exercise stimulus is provided.

Locomotor Training

Locomotor Training
Author: Susan J. Harkema
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2011
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0195342089

Physical rehabilitation for walking recovery after spinal cord injury is undergoing a paradigm shift. Therapy historically has focused on compensation for sensorimotor deficits after SCI using wheelchairs and bracing to achieve mobility. With locomotor training, the aim is to promote recovery via activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of the lesion. What basic scientists have shown us as the potential of the nervous system for plasticity, to learn, even after injury is being translated into a rehabilitation strategy by taking advantage of the intrinsic biology of the central nervous system. While spinal cord injury from basic and clinical perspectives was the gateway for developing locomotor training, its application has been extended to other populations with neurologic dysfunction resulting in loss of walking or walking disability.

Increasing Physical Activity Participation in Individuals with a Spinal Cord Injury Through the Use of Online Technology

Increasing Physical Activity Participation in Individuals with a Spinal Cord Injury Through the Use of Online Technology
Author: Kelly E. Ravenek
Publisher:
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

Research Problem: Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) face many barriers to physical activity (PA) participation. Research has demonstrated that participating in physical activity can have positive benefits for both quality of life (QOL) and reducing the risk of secondary health complications. Physical activity programs offered over the Internet have not been extensively researched, but may provide a solution to assist persons with SCI in overcoming barriers to PA participation. Methods: This integrated article dissertation focused on the feasibility of persons with SCI participating in a ten week exercise study delivered over the Internet to determine the impact of exercise on their quality of life and satisfaction with physical function, as well as their total number of PA participation minutes. The QOL outcome measures chosen for the study were selected based on a systematic review of QOL measures used in various PA interventions with persons with SCI. One additional aspect of this research was a comparison between a counseling group (online PA classes and four counselling sessions) and an active control group (online PA classes only) to determine differences in PA participation minutes and social cognitive predictors of PA participation. Results: With respect to participant satisfaction, it was determined that PA classes delivered over the Internet was a feasible delivery method. In each of the six domains of participant satisfaction, the median score was highly satisfied (4/4). The mean score for all participants also increased in each of the seven domains on the Satisfaction with Physical Function Survey from baseline to follow-up. On the Delighted/Terrible scale, 87% of the participants were 'pleased' or 'delighted' with the physical and psychological changes they perceived from participating in the intervention. In the counseling and control group study, there was a multivariate effect of group in the area of action planning. More specifically, the counseling group was better able to create action plans at all measurement time points compared to the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in total PA participation minutes between the two groups, nor were there differences in QOL over the length of the intervention. Conclusions: Physical activity programs offered over the Internet may be a feasible and acceptable delivery method for persons with SCI who may face barriers to PA participation. Participating in PA can result in positive perceptions of physical and psychological changes for persons with SCI.