Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol
Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for both cardiovascular diseases and sarcopenia, with exercise playing a crucial role in managing these conditions. While resistance training is widely recommended for sarcopenia, alternative exercise modalities like eccentric cycling (EC) remain largely un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-06-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/11/2/e002667.full |
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| author | Federico Schena Giovanni Benfari Cantor Tarperi Roberto Di Marco Valentina Cavedon Valentina Muollo Samuel D’Emanuele Mahsa Amini Shelley Keating Matteo Lanceni Martina Setti Laura Ghiotto |
| author_facet | Federico Schena Giovanni Benfari Cantor Tarperi Roberto Di Marco Valentina Cavedon Valentina Muollo Samuel D’Emanuele Mahsa Amini Shelley Keating Matteo Lanceni Martina Setti Laura Ghiotto |
| author_sort | Federico Schena |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for both cardiovascular diseases and sarcopenia, with exercise playing a crucial role in managing these conditions. While resistance training is widely recommended for sarcopenia, alternative exercise modalities like eccentric cycling (EC) remain largely underexplored, particularly for patients with heart failure (HF) and sarcopenia. EC, which involves muscle lengthening during contraction, offers advantages such as lower metabolic and circulatory demands than conventional concentric cycling, making it an attractive option for frail individuals with limited physical capacity. EC has emerged as a promising method, providing mechanical overload at lower energy expenditure.Despite its potential, studies on EC in older adults with HF and sarcopenia are scarce. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a 12-week EC programme in this population. Before training, participants will undergo a 2-week familiarisation period with a gradually increasing workload to ensure adaptation and minimise discomfort. The training programme will start with two sessions per week, progressing to three sessions per week, with workloads adjusted every 2 weeks to maintain the target rate of perceived exertion. The study will also assess the impact of EC on body composition, muscle strength and neuromuscular activity of upper and lower limbs, cardiorespiratory fitness and physical performance. Despite potential challenges such as patient adherence and small sample size, the study’s findings are expected to provide important first data regarding the feasibility and benefits of EC for improving functional capacity in this high-risk population. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-94fd08ec088544bba0bbd74a40cf968c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2055-7647 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-94fd08ec088544bba0bbd74a40cf968c2025-08-20T02:38:33ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine2055-76472025-06-0111210.1136/bmjsem-2025-002667Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocolFederico Schena0Giovanni Benfari1Cantor Tarperi2Roberto Di Marco3Valentina Cavedon4Valentina Muollo5Samuel D’Emanuele6Mahsa Amini7Shelley Keating8Matteo Lanceni9Martina Setti10Laura Ghiotto112 School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy2 School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Engineering for Innovation Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement (DNBM), University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyThe University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaDepartment of Engineering for Innovation Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyPhysical inactivity is a major risk factor for both cardiovascular diseases and sarcopenia, with exercise playing a crucial role in managing these conditions. While resistance training is widely recommended for sarcopenia, alternative exercise modalities like eccentric cycling (EC) remain largely underexplored, particularly for patients with heart failure (HF) and sarcopenia. EC, which involves muscle lengthening during contraction, offers advantages such as lower metabolic and circulatory demands than conventional concentric cycling, making it an attractive option for frail individuals with limited physical capacity. EC has emerged as a promising method, providing mechanical overload at lower energy expenditure.Despite its potential, studies on EC in older adults with HF and sarcopenia are scarce. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a 12-week EC programme in this population. Before training, participants will undergo a 2-week familiarisation period with a gradually increasing workload to ensure adaptation and minimise discomfort. The training programme will start with two sessions per week, progressing to three sessions per week, with workloads adjusted every 2 weeks to maintain the target rate of perceived exertion. The study will also assess the impact of EC on body composition, muscle strength and neuromuscular activity of upper and lower limbs, cardiorespiratory fitness and physical performance. Despite potential challenges such as patient adherence and small sample size, the study’s findings are expected to provide important first data regarding the feasibility and benefits of EC for improving functional capacity in this high-risk population.https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/11/2/e002667.full |
| spellingShingle | Federico Schena Giovanni Benfari Cantor Tarperi Roberto Di Marco Valentina Cavedon Valentina Muollo Samuel D’Emanuele Mahsa Amini Shelley Keating Matteo Lanceni Martina Setti Laura Ghiotto Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| title | Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| title_full | Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| title_fullStr | Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| title_short | Role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure: a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| title_sort | role of eccentric cycling in older adults affected by sarcopenia and heart failure a feasibility and efficacy study protocol |
| url | https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/11/2/e002667.full |
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