The acute impact of resistance training on fatigue in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis

Fatigue is the most prevalent symptom among patients with sarcoidosis, and skeletal muscle dysfunction is a common clinical feature, making resistance training (RT) a recommended treatment strategy. Despite lacking knowledge regarding whether high-intensity RT will aggravate fatigue, low to moderate-intensity is routinely used even if the evidence for this protocol to improve muscle strength is inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate whether one single session of high-intensity RT induces a higher increase in fatigue than one single session of moderate-intensity RT. In this randomized crossover study, 41 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (age: 53 ± 11 yr) were recruited. They randomly performed one single session of high-intensity RT, 4 sets × 5 repetitions maximum (5RM), and one single session of moderate-intensity RT, 2 sets × 25 RM. Fatigue was assessed with the Visual Analogue Scale (0–100 mm) immediately before (T0), immediately after (T1) and 24 hours after (T2) each exercise session. Fatigue development from T0 to T1 was significantly lower after 5RM (−3 ± 18 mm) than after 25RM (5 ± 15 mm), p = 0.004. No difference was seen from T0 to T2 between 5RM (0 ± 17 mm) and 25RM (6 ± 18 mm), p = 0.147. The high-intensity 5RM session did not induce a larger increase in fatigue than the moderate-intensity 25RM session. RT appears feasible and safe in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis irrespective of the intensity. Thus, the long-term effects of high-intensity RT on fatigue should be explored in a RT programme of longer duration.