Feasibility of functional electrical stimulated cycling in subjects with spinal cord injury: an energetic assessment

To determine the functional electrical stimulated (FES) cycling volume necessary to reach the recommended weakly exercise caloric expenditure of 1000-2200 kcal in FES trained subjects witlt paraplegn
Eight (7 males 1 female) FES trained subjects with traumatic motor and sensory complete paraplegia (AISA, lesion level between Th3 and Th9) of at least 3 years duration were included
Subjects performed an FES training session it the highest workload they were able to sustain for 60 mm During the training session respulatory gas exchange was measured which allowed the calculation of mean fat and carbohydrate oxidation rates and of total energy expenditure by means of indirect calorimetry
Subjects revealed a mean energy expenditure of 288 (standard destination 104) kcal/h This corresponded to a mean oxidation rate of 49 6 (standard deviation 35 2) g/h for carbohydrate and 8 5 (standard deviation 8 4) g/hour for fat Thus, 4-8 hours of FES cycling are necessary to reach the recommended weekly exercise caloric expenditure of 1000-2200 kcal
FES cycling appears to be a feasible and prom ising training alternative to upper body exercise for sub jects with spinal cord injury Four to 8 h of FES cycling are necessary to reach the recommended weekly exercise caloric expenditure that seems to be essential to induce persistent health benefits