Controlled dynamic weighttraining in patients with neuromuscular disorders

The question posed was whether individually adapted, controlled dynamic wei ght training, in accordance with training principles and methods from sport s science, applied for a limited time, can lead to an improvement in the st imulation and release of muscular strength in patients with neuromuscular d isorders. The muscles of the pelvic girdle and the lower extremity of 10 pa tients (5 with dystrophic muscle disease and 5 with neurogenic muscular atr ophy) were exercised provisionally for a period of 6 weeks on various weigh t training machines. The training routine was 3 sessions (TS) per week at a n intensity range of 40-60% of the respective best performance for the exer cise (One Repetition Maximum; ORM), at 8-12 repetitions/set and 2-4 sets/ex ercise. Body weight and ORM were determined before, during and after the tr aining period (TP), the different load criteria/TS were documented. It was possible to train the patients in accordance with principles of training kn own from sports science. Over the entire TP it was possible to increase the load criteria significantly (p <0.01). The ORM had increased considerably in all exercises after the TP (p <0.01). The changes in strength lay betwee n 11 and 95%. Correlation analyses demonstrated that the percentage changes in strength correlated significantly (p<0.01) and positively (r = 0.87) wi th the training load in terms of quality. No significant changes in develop ment of strength could be ascertained between the two groups of patients (d ystrophic versus atrophic). The individually adjusted, controlled dynamic w eight training described above, leads to an increase in the stimulation and release of strength and can be conducted according to principles of traini ng science. Applied in clinical rehabilitation, it represents a supplementa ry form of therapy in the symptomatic treatment of neuromuscular disorders.