Thomas Peter Walden

University Health Network | UHN · KITE Research Institute - Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation

The aim of this study was to determine test‐retest reliability and concurrent validity of vertical force‐velocity‐power (FVP) profiles using Smith machine and free‐weight countermovement jumps (CMJs). A repeated‐measure cross‐over design with randomized load order and counterbalanced trials was employed. Sixteen resistance‐trained males (age: 26.4...

Background Heart Disease is the leading cause of death after spinal cord injury (SCI). Individuals with paraplegia develop hypertension and elevated arterial stiffness prior to their age matched peers. Overground exoskeleton training is becoming an increasingly prevalent form of exercise. In the general population, exercise training has been shown...

Background Following a traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI), patients prioritize being able to manage their bowels independently. A reduction of independence can impact an individual’s quality of life. The current study investigates the relationships between sphincter control, level of independence and quality of life. We hypothesized that sphincter...

Background Individuals with a neurologic level of injury (NLI) C1-T10 have an UMN bowel and propensity for external anal sphincter spasm and need chemical/mechanical stimuli to evacuate their bowels versus those with an NLI T11-S5 and LMN bowel whom have a patulous sphincter and complete manual bowel disimpaction. We describe the associations betwe...

Purpose Athletes regularly perform resistance training, yet it is unknown how best to monitor its intensity. This study compared different resistance exercise intensity metrics to determine their sensitivity to manipulating work rate (via altering inter-set rest and load). Methods Following baseline testing for 10- and 3-repetition maximum (RM; sq...

Purpose: To determine whether performing resistance exercise in hypoxia acutely reduces performance and increases markers of fatigue, and whether these responses are exaggerated if exercising at high versus low work rates (i.e., exercising to failure or volume matched non-failure). Methods: Following a within-subject design, 20 men completed two tr...

This study investigated the impact of blood flow restriction (BFR) during treadmill walking on gait kinematics. Twenty-one participants completed one familiarisation and four experimental sessions, including two walking speeds (moderate [5.0 ± 0.3km·h-1] and fast [6.4 ± 0.4km·h-1]) and two occlusion conditions (BFR [60% of arterial occlusion pressu...

This study investigated whether walking with blood flow restriction (BFR) increases acute cardio-respiratory demands to the point that it can be considered an alternative for jogging. Sixteen physically active adults completed five experimental sessions (order randomised), comprising 10 min of treadmill exercise. Two sessions included unrestricted...

Objective: Identify whether the application of blood flow restriction (BFR) during walking influences fraction of expired oxygen (FeO2) and carbon dioxide (FeCO2) measures, key variables in the calculation of oxygen consumption (V̇O2) via indirect calorimetry. Design: Randomised cross-over. Methods: On separate visits, sixteen participants comple...

PurposeTo investigate whether performing resistance exercise in hypoxia augments physiological and perceptual responses, and if altering work-rate by performing repetitions to failure compared to sub-maximally increases the magnitude of these responses.Methods Twenty male university students (minimum of 2 year resistance training experience) comple...