Scientific exercise guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury: development process, results and recommendations for implementation

Abstract

The present paper describes the systematic process adopted to develop scientific exercise guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury and its results. To improve fitness, adults with spinal cord injury should engage in at least 20 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise twice a week, combined with three sets of strength-training exercises for each major functioning muscle group, at a moderate to vigorous intensity, twice a week. To improve cardiometabolic health, adults with spinal cord injury are suggested to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise three times a week. Since lack of information on the type and the amount of physical activity needed to obtain health benefits is an important barrier for people with spinal cord injury, this knowledge could be of great relevance in order to promote physically active lifestyles in this population.