Lower Extremity Strength Is Correlated with Walking Function After Incomplete SCI.

Background: Lower extremity strength has been reported to relate to walking ability, however, the relationship between voluntary lower extremity muscle function as measured by isokinetic dynamometry and walking have not been thoroughly examined in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).

Objective: To determine the extent to which measures of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and rate of torque development (RTD) in the knee extensor (KE) and plantar flexor (PF) muscle groups correlate with self-selected overground walking speed and spatiotemporal characteristics of walking.

Methods: Twenty-two subjects with chronic (>6 months) iSCI participated in a cross-sectional study.

Feasibility of lower-limb muscle power training to enhance locomotor function poststroke.

Poststroke motor control is characterized by greatly reduced muscle power generation. To date, the extent to which muscle power limits walking performance or whether its remediation should be a primary component of locomotor rehabilitation has yet to be established. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and the effects of Poststroke Optimization of Walking using Explosive Resistance training, an intervention aimed at improving poststroke muscular and locomotor function.

Self-reported versus objectively assessed exercise adherence.

OBJECTIVE. We examined agreement of data between self-reported and objectively assessed exercise adherence among women with systemic lupus erythematosus. METHOD.

Differential adaptations of muscle architecture to high-velocity versus traditional strength training in cerebral palsy.

Background: Everyday activities for youth with cerebral palsy (CP) require muscle power, but the velocity component of muscle contraction is neglected with traditional strength training (ST).

Objective: To determine whether velocity training (VT), which includes resistance training at increasingly higher velocities, would induce specific muscle adaptations not observed with ST.

Methods: Sixteen ambulatory youth with CP were randomized to VT or ST.

The process associated with motivation of a home-based Wii Fit exercise program among sedentary African American women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To explore the process associated with the motivation for playing Wii Fit among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Individual in-depth semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 14 sedentary African American women with SLE to explore their experiences and reflect on their motivation for playing Wii Fit after completing a 10-week home-based Wii Fit exercise program. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the constant comparative method to identify categories related to participants' motivation.