Resistance training effectiveness in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: recommendations for exercise prescription.

Abstract

To determine the effects of a 12-week, home-based resistance exercise program on strength, body composition, and activities of daily living (ADLs) in men and women with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease and to design an ADL-based resistance exercise prescription template. Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Testing in a university setting; exercise in patients' homes. Twenty CMT patients who volunteered. Subjects progressively strength trained at home 3 d/wk for 12 weeks. Timed ADLs, isometric strength, and body composition. Absolute strength was greater in men with CMT in only 4 of 10 baseline measures (P<.05), but not when strength was normalized by lean mass. Training compliance was 87% with no gender differences. At baseline, women had 80% of normal strength in 4 of 10 measures, whereas men did not achieve 80% of normal strength in any measure. After training, women had 80% of normal strength in 8 of 10 measures, whereas men only had 80% of normal strength in 1. Training volumes and strength change scores showed no gender differences. ADLs improved after training with no gender differences (P<.05). An exercise prescription template was developed by using chair-rise time to estimate starting weights for lower body and supine rise for upper body. Resistance training improved strength and ADLs equally in men and women. We designed an exercise prescription recommendation, based on ADL performance.