Evaluating the health and fitness benefits of a 6-month FES-cycling program on a recumbent trike for individuals with motor complete SCI: a pilot study.

The study included only five male participants with recent motor complete paraplegia, so it cannot show effects in women, people with higher lesions, people with more chronic injury, or people who cannot generate functional electrical stimulation contractions. There was no control group, so changes cannot be compared with usual care or with the natural course of spinal cord injury. The program combined conditioning, indoor cycling, occasional outdoor cycling, and sport events, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The sample size was chosen for a pilot study, and the protocol was registered retrospectively. Some participants had significant bone T-score decreases, but the study did not determine whether this was injury progression or a limitation of the intervention. Participants were already high in well-being at baseline, which may have limited room for improvement. Training was mainly centre-based and less intensive than some previous protocols, so results may not apply to home-based or higher-dose programs. A participant missed the one-month follow-up because he continued training for a competition.

The work was supported by Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione Contro Gli Infortuni sul Lavoro and Ministero della Salute. The supplied text does not include author conflict-of-interest statements.

Do not conclude that FES cycling improves bone health, bowel function, pain, autonomic control, or well-being. The positive findings were limited to thigh muscle size and cycling power, and the study had no control group.