Clinical trials

The repeated bout effect (RBE) refers to the adaptation whereby a single bout of eccentric exercise protects against muscle damage from subsequent eccentric bouts. This effect has been shown in many muscle groups using both serum biomarkers, muscle soreness and imaging techniques. Though the effect is well described in healthy, it has never been studied in patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMDs). In healthy, the RBE is only described using eccentric exercise, but unlike healthy persons, patients with NMDs can experience significant muscle damage with concentric exercise. This raises the question, if patients with NMDs could also show RBE when performing concentric exercise.