Recruiting

Cross-Education

Sponsor:

Kansas State University

Code:

NCT07166198

Conditions

Muscle Weakness

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 40 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Wrist immobilization

Resistance training

Resistance training rehabilitation

Study Details

Brief summary:

Clinical trial The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how muscle weakness and atrophy develop during short periods of arm immobilization and whether a type of exercise called cross-education can help reduce these effects in women at midlife.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

What changes happen in the nervous system that lead to weakness when a wrist is immobilized?

Can training the opposite arm help maintain muscle strength, muscle size, and nervous system function in the immobilized arm?

Researchers will compare women who have their wrist immobilized with or without opposite-arm resistance training.

Participants will:

Wear a wrist cast on one arm for 7 days

Complete strength training with the opposite arm or no training, depending on their group

Attend study visits for strength and nervous system testing

Have non-invasive tests (like magnetic brain stimulation, muscle recordings, and muscle imaging) to measure how the nervous system and muscle responds

Conditions

Muscle Weakness

Study ID

NCT07166198

Start date

May 1, 2026

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Jan 31, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 31, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 40 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women between 40-65 years of age
  • Baseline handgrip strength >16Kg

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Personal or family history of blood clots
  • Current use of anticoagulant medications
  • Neuromuscular or metabolic diseases (e.g., multiple sclerosis, diabetes)
  • Arthritis
  • Osteoporosis or osteopenia
  • History of myocardial infarction within the past year
  • Chronic pain ≥3/10 for ≥3 months
  • Uncontrolled hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg)
  • Upper extremity surgery within the past year
  • Use of assistive hand or arm device within the past year
  • Fall involving the upper extremities within the past year
  • Upper extremity injuries preventing safe participation
  • Current use of muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines, or similar drugs
  • Smoking within the past 6 months
  • History of drug or alcohol abuse within the past year
  • Severe anxiety or claustrophobia
  • Pregnancy (current or planned)
  • Allergies to medical adhesives
  • High risk of sarcopenia (per SARC-F)
  • Contraindications to TMS or MRI
  • Upper-body resistance training within the past 6 months
  • Inability/unwillingness to refrain from resistance training during study

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Intervention Group (TRAIN)

This group will receive the experimental intervention

active comparator: Control Group (CON)

This group will not receive the experimental intervention

Interventions

Wrist immobilization

The wrist immobilization will use a medical device (wrist cast) to immobilize the left, non-dominant wrist for 7 days.

Resistance training

The cross-education intervention will consist of resistance training on the dominant hand.

Resistance training rehabilitation

The resistance training rehabilitation will occur for the non-dominant hand following the immobilization phase for all participants.

Primary outcome measure

  • Handgrip Strength [ Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-immobilization at 1 week, and post-rehabilitation at 3 weeks. ]
  • Wrist Extension Strength [ Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-immobilization at 1 week, and post-rehabilitation at 3 weeks. ]
  • Wrist Flexion Strength [ Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-immobilization at 1 week, and post-rehabilitation at 3 weeks. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Joshua Carr, Ph.D.

785-532-0700joshuacarr@ksu.edu

Julio Hernandez-Pavon, Ph.D.

juliohpavon@ksu.edu

Locations

Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory

Recruiting

Manhattan, Kansas, United States, 66506

Contacts

Joshua Carr, PhD

785-532-0700joshuacarr@ksu.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Kansas State University

Last update posted

Jun 10, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Resistance Training
  • Neuroplasticity
  • Muscle Disuse
  • Wrist immobilization
  • Women's Health

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Kansas State University on 2026-06-10.