1. Improving Exercise Performance with an Accelerometer-Based Smartphone App.
- Author
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Bittel, Daniel C., Bittel, Adam J., Williams, Christine, and Elazzazi, Ashraf
- Subjects
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ACCELEROMETERS , *ANALYSIS of variance , *CHI-squared test , *EXERCISE physiology , *FISHER exact test , *PSYCHOLOGY of movement , *T-test (Statistics) , *BODY movement , *RANDOMIZED controlled trials , *PRE-tests & post-tests , *SMARTPHONES , *MOBILE apps , *DATA analysis software , *RESISTANCE training , *ONE-way analysis of variance - Abstract
Objective: Proper exercise form is critical for the safety and efficacy of therapeutic exercise. This research examines if a novel smartphone application, designed to monitor and provide real-time corrections during resistance training, can reduce performance errors and elicit a motor learning response. Design: Forty-two participants aged 18 to 65 years were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Both groups were tested for the number of movement errors made during a 10-repetition set completed at baseline, immediately after, and 1 to 2 weeks after a single training session of knee extensions. The treatment group trained with real-time, smartphone-generated feedback, whereas the control subjects did not. Group performance (number of errors) was compared across test sets using a 2-factor mixed-model analysis of variance. Results: No differences were observed between groups for age, sex, or resistance training experience. There was a significant interaction between test set and group. The treatment group demonstrated fewer errors on posttests 1 and 2 compared with pretest (P < 0.05). There was no reduction in the number of errors on any posttest for control subjects. Conclusion: Smartphone apps, such as the one used in this study, may enhance patient supervision, safety, and exercise efficacy across rehabilitation settings. A single training session with the app promoted motor learning and improved exercise performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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