Introduction: Limb muscle dysfunction is a common manifestation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Optimising of limb muscle function is therefore an important goal during pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with COPD. Resistance training (RT) is the best available intervention to achieve this goal. Previous systematic reviews on RT primarily focused on methodological quality. However, the intervention holds the essence of each experimental study. Replication of RT interventions requires clear, complete and accessible reporting of the essential components. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) provides evidencebased guidelines for RT prescription and recommends RT models specific to desired outcomes, that is, improvements in strength, muscular hypertrophy, power or local muscle endurance. The aim of this review is to investigate if the application of the RT principles and key training variables is described sufficiently in current evidence on the effects of RT interventions in patients with COPD.
Methods and analysis: Any research study (randomised, non-randomised controlled, controlled pre–post studies and observational studies) with an RT intervention in patients with COPD will be considered for this systematic review. Potentially relevant studies published in English from inception to 1 October 2017 will be identified from Embase, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). Studies exploring the effects of RT following a single session and RT interventions limited to other respiratory chronic diseases will not be included. Additionally, studies including non-COPD participants will be excluded, if the COPD data are not separated. Pairs of reviewers will independently extract data using data collecting sheets. Quality appraisal of RT description will be performed in timeframes according to the latest published ACSM position statement on exercise or RT.
Ethics and dissemination: This protocol is a systematic review and therefore ethical approval is not required. The results of this review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and presented at scientific conferences.