Support
Previous TopicSome people may require further support in order to complete their muscle strengthening exercises or achieve their functional goals.
Support may include:
- Assistive products
- Referral to other services
It is important to provide the person with access to supports that may enable them to perform muscle strengthening exercises more effectively and function at the highest level possible.
Question
Remember Nguyen?
Nguyen’s goal is to return to her duties as president of her community group that prepares meals for the homeless.
Before experiencing a stroke, Nguyen was not using any walking aids to mobilise, however, when completing the initial stages of her rehabilitation, Nguyen has now completed the initial phases of her rehabilitation, Nguyen was using a wheelchair to get around due to the weakness in her left side.
Nguyen’s strength is now improving and she can walk short distances with assistance from either a rail or another person.
As Nguyen’s clinician, you would like Nguyen to continue strengthening her leg muscles at home by doing some walking and strengthening exercises in standing but you are concerned that she cannot do this without support.
As the clinician, which of the following options might help give Nguyen support for walking and doing muscle strengthening exercises in standing?
- a. Continue using a wheelchair until she can walk independently without any support
- b. Prescribe a walking frame for support
- c. Walk independently and stand close to walls or rails
If you selected b, you are correct.
In this situation, it would be appropriate for Nguyen to start using a walking frame. This would allow her to strengthen her walking and continue doing her muscle strengthening exercises safely, without risk of falling.
This is an example of how assistive products can help people to perform muscle strengthening exercises safely.
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For more information about supporting the person with an assistive product please see the WHO TAP modules. For more information about referral to additional services please see the ‘Introduction to rehabilitation’ module.
Summary
- For muscle strengthening, it is important to have a functional goal for rehabilitation so that exercises can be planned that are relevant to the person’s goals
- When providing muscle strengthening exercises to a person, it is important to provide the person; a description of the exercise, the number of repetitions and sets they should perform and the exercise frequency
- Appropriate exercises should; be of moderate intensity (using BORG RPE scale), be able to be performed without pain or discomfort, relate to everyday activities the person is having difficulty with, improve muscle strength and be able to be performed safely with the appropriate level of support
- To build muscle strength, a person should aim to perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions at a moderate intensity level
- Initial exercise duration should be planned based on the grade of strength assessed and overall fitness of the person
- Initial exercise frequency should be planned based on the movements being performed. Generally, exercises performed against gravity and resistance require two days recovery time
- There are general guidelines for exercise type, exercise duration and exercise frequency based on grade of muscle strength assessed. However, it is important to plan the muscle strengthening program based on all assessment findings
- Many different objects that can be found at home can be used by the person to provide resistance for an exercise
- It is important to provide the person with access to supports (including referral to other services) that enable them to perform muscle strengthening exercises and function at the highest level possible
You have completed lesson 3! If you have any questions or comments, post them on the discussion forum.
Lesson 3 quiz
Please complete the following quiz before moving on to the next lesson:
Quiz
1. Generally, what is an appropriate exercise duration for an individual muscle group?
- a. 15-20 minutes
- b. 5-10 minutes
- c. 20-25 minutes
- d. 0-5 minutes
If you selected b, you are correct.
In general, 5-10 minutes is an appropriate exercise duration for an individual muscle group.
2. What is an appropriate exercise frequency when performing exercises ‘against gravity and resistance’?
- a. Once every two days
- b. Once daily
- c. Twice a day
If you selected a, you are correct.
When performing exercises ‘against gravity and resistance’, performing exercises once every two days is appropriate to give muscles time to recover.
3. Which of the following objects could be used as resistance?
- a. A water bottle filled with water
- b. A brick
- c. A rock
- d. A spring
- e. All of the above
If you selected e, you are correct.
All of these objects could be used as resistance when performing muscle strengthening exercise.
4. Generally, should a person be experiencing pain when performing muscle strengthening exercises?
- a. Yes
- b. No
If you selected b, you are correct.
Generally, it is okay to feel a muscle ‘working’ or feel fatigued when performing muscle strengthening exercises but a person should not be in pain.
5. How would you progress someone who has been doing exercises for grade 3/5 muscle strength?
- a. By performing active-assisted movements
- b. By performing movements against gravity
- c. By adding resistance
to the movements
- d. By decreasing exercise duration
If you selected c, you are correct.
A person doing exercises for grade 3/5 muscle strength should be performing exercises against gravity. To progress these exercises, it would be appropriate to add resistance to the movements.
