Effects of Upper Limb Exercises on Physical Capacity and Heart Function in Quadriplegics

Introduction: Wheelchairs are the prime mobility aid of persons with spinal cord injuries. Manual wheelchair propulsion puts a lot of demand on the cardiopulmonary as well as the skeletal system. The main purpose of the study was to compare the effects of both arm ergometry training and progressive resistance exercise training of upper limbs on resting heart rate and distance covered during wheelchair propulsion in paraplegics. Method: A convenience sample of 30 male subjects took were randomly assigned to two groups. Participants were spinal cord injured patients recruited from the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi. Each group consisted of 15 subjects. Group 1 received arm ergometry training and group 2 received progressive resistance exercise training. The resting heart rate and distance covered during wheelchair propulsion in a 3 minutes task of the wheelchair circuit was measured before and after 4 weeks of training. Results: The post intervention resting heart rate and distance covered during wheelchair propulsion after 4 weeks between the two groups showed significant differences. In group 1, resting heart rate was 77.53±3.52 beats/min and in group 2 resting heart rate was 82.33±3.69 beats/min (mean±SD). In group 1, the distance covered during wheelchair propulsion was 305.19±17.21 meters and in group 2 it was 250.71+20.59 meters. Conclusion: The arm ergometry training may be a better choice of exercise for improving the cardiovascular and functional aspect of spinal cord injury patients who are dependent on wheelchairs for mobility.