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Physiologic considerations of therapeutic slideboard rehabilitation with an external loading device
Iris F Kimura1, Ronald K Hetzler, Kenneth T Nakasone
1Department of Kinesiology and Leisure Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. ikimura@hawaii.edu
Context:
Slideboard exercise is consistent with the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for exercise intensity of 55% to 90% of maximal heart rate or 40% to 85% of maximal oxygen uptake.
Objective:
To determine if slideboard exercise while in a leg harness increases the metabolic and cardiorespiratory demands.
Design:
Repeated-measures design.
Setting:
Athletic Training Research Laboratory.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Sixteen volunteers from the university community.
Intervention(S):
Subjects performed 2 graded slideboard exercise tests with and without the leg harness, each 2-minute stage ranging from 46 to 90 slides per minute.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
We measured maximal oxygen uptake, heart rate, blood lactate, respiratory exchange ratio, ratings of perceived exertion, and total time to exhaustion during each session.
Results:
Significant decreases in maximal oxygen uptake and blood lactate were observed when the leg harness was used.
Conclusions:
Performance was hindered when subjects wore the leg harness during the slideboard exercise.
