Can heavy leg lifts help COPD patients breathe easier?
NCT ID NCT03799354
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study looks at whether adding maximal strength training (heavy leg presses) to standard endurance exercise helps people with COPD walk more efficiently and feel less breathless. Twenty participants will do either strength-plus-endurance or endurance-only training for 8 weeks. Researchers will measure changes in walking efficiency, leg strength, and fall risk over 6 months.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- maximal strength training plus endurance training
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could show that adding heavy leg-strength exercises to standard rehab helps people with COPD walk more efficiently and feel less tired.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small pilot study with only 20 people, so results may not apply to everyone. The training is intense and may be too hard for some patients.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2019
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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50 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * COPD clinical definition according to GOLD guidelines with forced expiratory volume (FEV1)/ forced vital capacity (FVC) \< 70%, and FEV1 \< 50% of predicted * stable clinical condition Exclusion Criteria: * pulmonary diseases other than COPD * type II diabetes or other metabolic diseases * malign disease * a respiratory tract infection within the last 4 wks * long oxygen therapy use.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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ICS Maugeri IRCCS, Respiratory Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane
RECRUITINGLumezzane, Brescia, 25065, Italy
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