# Telehealth high intensity interval exercise and cardiometabolic health in spinal cord injury

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2020 · $222,750

## Abstract

Project Summary
For individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), exercise participation reduces the risk of developing chronic
cardiometabolic diseases, which are leading causes of rehospitalization and death within this population.
Accordingly, recent SCI exercise guidelines have highlighted a need for exercise trials that can improve
cardiometabolic factors such as glucose tolerance, blood lipids, blood pressure, and body composition.
However, to date, the number of exercise trials examining these cardiometabolic outcomes in SCI is low, and
these exercise regimens are often inconvenient for individuals with SCI to perform within their community. In
addition to the functional impairment associated with the disability, individuals with SCI experience a number of
barriers to exercise participation, such as lack of time (e.g. conflict with work schedule), accessible or usable
equipment and facilities, and transportation. Thus, it is important to identify effective modes of exercise that
can improve overall health but do not require a significant overall weekly time commitment. We recently
demonstrated that individuals with SCI could safely perform high intensity interval training (HIIT) using arm
crank cycling and that as few as two days per week of HIIT could improve cardiometabolic health. Despite the
advantages of HIIT, it is important to identify methods of implementing exercise trials that can successfully
reach and maintain participation in larger cohorts. Recent work by our group demonstrated that individuals with
SCI expressed favorable perceptions of home-exercise training that incorporated telehealth technology, which
allowed a fitness specialist to remotely monitor participants' training progress in real-time and provide verbal
support via videoconferencing. This method of training holds even greater value for home-exercise programs
that require monitoring to dose-specific protocols such as HIIT. However, the long-term success of HIIT will
greatly depend on the ease at which the program can be implemented, as well as participants' adherence and
perceptions of using the technology, which has not been investigated in SCI. The goal of this study is to
integrate a home-based telehealth HIIT arm crank exercise training program in individuals with SCI and assess
changes in cardiometabolic health and physical function. The secondary goal is to explore the uptake and
implementation of HIIT in SCI. 40 participants will be randomized to home-based HIIT exercise or a no-
exercise control group for 16-weeks. Body composition, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, and changes in
cardiometabolic health will be assessed at baseline and 16-weeks post training. In addition to changes in
cardiometabolic health outcomes, we will also conduct interviews with participants to determine overall
perceptions of the program, program likes and dislikes, perceived satisfaction and value, usability of equipment
and technology, and factors that influence adherence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10028847
- **Project number:** 1R21NR019309-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Gordon Fisher
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $222,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-08 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10028847

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10028847, Telehealth high intensity interval exercise and cardiometabolic health in spinal cord injury (1R21NR019309-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10028847. Licensed CC0.

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