Overview

• Trial enrolled 91 adults (mean age 64) diagnosed with diverse neuromuscular disorders and assigned them to either a six-month home-based aerobic and coaching program or to standard care, with outcomes tracked over 18 months
• The intervention paired tailored low- and high-intensity stationary-bike workouts with goal-setting and motivational feedback to help participants integrate exercise into daily life
• Researchers measured peak oxygen consumption through maximal effort tests at baseline, immediately post-program, six months later and one year after completion to gauge cardiorespiratory fitness
• The exercise group outperformed controls by an average of 1.7 ml/min/kg over the full study and maintained a 3 ml/min/kg advantage at the one-year follow-up
• Adverse events were similar between groups (22 in the exercise arm versus 25 in usual care) and future research funded by Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds will examine impacts on daily function, quality of life and disease progression