Metabolic Health in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

NMES-RE will involve concentric/eccentric contractions of the quadriceps from a seated position. Briefly, each session will include four sets of 10 actions evoked using 50 Hz trains of 450 µs biphasic pulses. The protocol will be implemented using surface NMES. Upon completion of the NMES-RE session, participants will be given a short break (10-15 minutes) for recovery before starting aerobic training. NMES aerobic exercise will involve twitch electrical stimulation (pulse duration/interval=200/50 µs) applied to the quadriceps muscle via surface NMES. The current amplitude will set to 175 mA. The training will start with 10 minutes of twitch stimulation at 2 Hz. After the first weeks, the duration of the session will progressively increase up to 60 minutes at 10 Hz.