Resistance training effectiveness in patients with charcot-marie-tooth disease: Recommendations for exercise prescription1 1No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of a 12-week, home-based resistance exercise program on strength, body composition, and activities of daily living (ADLs) in men and women with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease and to design an ADL-based resistance exercise prescription template. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. SETTING: Testing in a university setting; exercise in patients' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty CMT patients who volunteered. INTERVENTION: Subjects progressively strength trained at home 3 d/wk for 12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Timed ADLs, isometric strength, and body composition. RESULTS: Absolute strength was greater in men with CMT in only 4 of 10 baseline measures (P<.05), but not when strength was normalized by lean mass. Training compliance was 87% with no gender differences. At baseline, women had 80% of normal strength in 4 of 10 measures, whereas men did not achieve 80% of normal strength in any measure. After training, women had 80% of normal strength in 8 of 10 measures, whereas men only had 80% of normal strength in 1. Training volumes and strength change scores showed no gender differences. ADLs improved after training with no gender differences (P<.05). An exercise prescription template was developed by using chair-rise time to estimate starting weights for lower body and supine rise for upper body. CONCLUSIONS: Resistance training improved strength and ADLs equally in men and women. We designed an exercise prescription recommendation, based on ADL performance.