The Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) are based on scientific exercise guidelines rigorously developed by an international group composed of SCI scientists, people living with SCI, clinicians, and representatives from SCI organizations. The infographic below shows how the scientific guidelines have been developed.
There are two scientific SCI exercise guidelines: the Fitness Guideline, and the Cardiometabolic Health Guideline. The Fitness Guideline describes the minimum amount of activity needed to achieve fitness and health benefits. The Cardiometabolic Health Guideline describes the amount of activity needed to achieve Cardiometabolic Health benefits, such as lowering the risk of developing several chronic diseases.
The starting level of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) is based on the Fitness Guideline. The advanced level of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) is based on the combination of the Fitness Guidelines and the Cardiometabolic Health Guidelines.
Key references:
- Martin Ginis KA, Van Der Scheer JW, Latimer-Cheung AE, et al. Evidence-based scientific exercise guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury: An update and a new guideline. Spinal Cord. 2018;56(4):308-321. doi:10.1038/s41393-017-0017-3.
- Goosey-Tolfrey VL, van der Scheer JW, Lexell J, The International SCI Exercise Guidelines Project Group, et al. The International SCI Exercise Guidelines Project Group, et al. Development of scientific exercise guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury. Br J Sports Med 2018 52 1166-1167.
- Van der Scheer JW, Martin Ginis KA, Ditor DS, et al. Effects of exercise on fitness and health of adults with spinal cord injury. Neurology. 2017;89(7):736 LP-745.
Development of this website
The following persons contributed to the content of this website:
- Dr. Kathleen Martin Ginis, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Femke Hoekstra, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Chris McBride, Executive Director, SCI BC
- Spero Ginis, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Jaimie Borisoff, BC Institute of Technology
- Dr. Amy Latimer-Cheung, Queen’s University
- Mary Jo Fetterly
- Lorne Mah
- Jasmin Ma, University of British Columbia
- Jocelyn Mafflin, SCI BC
- Dr. Christopher West, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Rhonda Willms, University of British Columbia
This website is managed by the SCI Action Canada Lab at the University of British Columbia.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to nearly 100 potential end-users (e.g., adults with SCI, family members or caregivers of people with SCI, clinicians, therapists, representatives of SCI organizations) provided feedback on various drafts of the content on this website.
The development of this website is financially supported by the Canadian Disability Participation Project, Rick Hansen Institute, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
