Optimizing resistance training intensity in supportive care for survivors of breast cancer: velocity-based approach in the row exercise

Resistance training mitigates side effects during and after cancer treatment. To provide a new approach for precisely and safely assessing and prescribing the intensity of resistance training in supportive cancer care, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the load-velocity relationship during the row exercise in women survivors of breast cancer.

Twenty women survivors of breast cancer who had undergone surgery and had completed core breast cancer treatment within the previous 10 years completed an incremental loading test until the one repetition maximum (1RM) in the row exercise. The velocity was measured during the concentric phase of each repetition with a linear velocity transducer, and their relationship with the relative load was analyzed by linear and polynomial regression models.

A strong relationship was observed between movement velocity and relative load for all measured velocity variables using linear and polynomial regression models (R² > 0.90; SEE < 6.00%1RM). The mean velocity and mean propulsive velocity of 1RM was 0.40 ± 0.03 m·s⁻¹, whereas the peak velocity at 1RM was 0.64 ± 0.07 m·s¹.

In women survivors of breast cancer, monitoring movement velocity during the row exercise can facilitate precise assessment and prescription of resistance training intensity in supportive cancer care.