Effect of repeated locomotor training on ventilatory measures, perceived exertion and walking endurance in persons with motor incomplete spinal cord injury

This study investigates how locomotor training affects breathing patterns, effort perception, and walking ability in people with incomplete spinal cord injuries. It explores if a warm-up helps breathing adjust to exercise and how overground locomotor training changes breathing, perceived exertion, and walking endurance over time. The research looks at the connection between breathing variability, how hard someone feels they're working, and how long they can walk. The study found that a warm-up can help breathing adjust to exercise, and locomotor training improves breathing patterns and walking endurance. The findings suggest that changes in breathing variability are linked to perceived exertion, highlighting potential therapeutic targets for improving walking ability in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injuries.

• 1
  A warm-up bout of exercise can elicit a phasic ventilatory response to constant work rate exercise in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury.
• 2
  Overground locomotor training (OLT) normalizes the ventilatory kinetics and improves walking endurance in SCI patients.
• 3
  The change in minute ventilation variability is correlated to ratings of perceived exertion (RPE).