In this article, we will discuss strength training and aerobic exercise for muscle diseases.The review that I am going to introduce is about the beneficial effects of strength training and aerobic exercise performed for muscle diseases.Therefore, it will be hard for the average person to think that the results will be applicable to them when they decide to practice it themselves, so it will be a useful knowledge for health care providers and care providers to see.
The Study
The study reviewed 14 trials of interventions with aerobic exercise, strength training, or both.
The exercise duration ranged from 8 to 52 weeks.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD)
Dermatomyositis
Polymyositis
Mitochondrial myopathy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
The study was conducted on 428 participants with the following diseases
Because blinding of participants was not possible, the risk of bias was variable, some trials did not blind outcome assessors, and some did not use intention-to-treat analysis.
Strength training vs. no training
FSHD participants (35 participants) resulted in low certainty with little effect on dynamic strength of the elbow flexors and isometric strength of the elbow flexors.The same can be said for the dynamic strength of the ankle dorsiflexors and ankle dorsiflexors.Participants with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (35 participants) had very low certainty results with slight improvement in isometric wrist extensor strength, but no effect on grip strength at all. Pinch strength and isometric wrist flexor strength were also reportedly unaffected.
Aerobic exercise vs. no training
For the DMD participants, there was a very low certainty of improvement in terms of leg and arm rotations.For participants with FSHD, there was less certainty evidence of improvement in aerobic capacity and little effect on knee extension strength.
For participants with dermatomyositis and polymyositis (14 participants), there is very low certainty of evidence for the effects of aerobic training.Combination of strength training and aerobic exercise compared to no trainingIn participants with juvenile dermatomyositis (26 participants), there was an improvement in knee extensor strength on the right and left side, but the quality of evidence is low.However, the results are of low certainty, with little effect on the maximum hip flexor strength on the right and left sides.
This trial also showed a slight decrease in capacity for aerobic exercise, but with low certainty evidence.In participants with dermatomyositis and polymyositis (21 participants), there was a slight increase in dynamic strength of the right knee extensor muscles and in measured muscle strength, but with very low certainty evidence.There was no clear effect on the isometric muscle strength of the eight different muscles, and there may be an increase in aerobic capacity, as measured by maximal oxygen uptake and sustained power performed in the incremental cycle test.In participants with mitochondrial myopathies (18 participants), there is very low certainty evidence of improvement for shoulder muscles and pectoral muscles.
One trial of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (35 participants) did not provide data on muscle strength or aerobic capacity after combined training.In this trial, muscle strength decreased in one person and daytime sleepiness worsened in one person.Most of the trials reported no adverse events other than muscle pain or joint complaints.
Reviewer's conclusion
Evidence for strength training and aerobic exercise interventions remains uncertain. Evidence suggests that strength training alone may have little or no effect, and aerobic training alone may improve aerobic capacity, but only in FSHD participants. Combining aerobic exercise with strength training may result in a slight increase in muscle strength and muscle power in people with dermatomyositis and polymyositis, and a slight decrease in aerobic capacity and increase in muscle power in people with juvenile dermatomyositis. Further studies with robust methodologies and more participants are still needed.
Voet NBM, van der Kooi EL, van Engelen BGM, Geurts ACH. Strength training and aerobic exercise training for muscle disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD003907. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003907.pub5.
Conclusion
It seems to me that people who perform these interventions need to make changes while recording detailed muscle strength and the motor skills they can perform to make the interventions meaningful for improvement purposes.The content of the training would change this conclusion, wouldn't it? However, the current scientific research results suggest that the following is true about muscle development.You can't get useful results by working out individually.Increasing the number of sets is better than increasing the weight.There is no evidence for protein supplementation immediately after training.
etc.
There is no evidence of protein supplementation immediately after training. Because of these factors, even if you devise a great menu, will it make a huge difference in your results? It's also important to think about this.It seems to me that it would only increase the burden on the patient, so I would like to take the patient's feelings into consideration while recording and monitoring the progress of the program.
