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A histochemical study, using myosin-adenosine triphosphatase activity at pH 9.4, was conducted in soleus and plantaris muscles of adult rats, after bilateral crushing of the sciatic nerve at the sciatic notch. The changes in fiber diameter and per cent composition of type I and type II fibers plus muscle weights were evaluated along the course of denervation-reinnervation curve at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks postnerve crush. The study revealed that in the early denervation phase (up to 2 weeks posterush) both the slow and fast muscles, soleus and plantaris, respectively, atrophied similarly in muscle mass. Soieus increased in the number of type II fibers, which may be attributed to "disuse"

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SYNOPSIS There are no studies that define the optimum intensity or time to begin exercising reinnervating muscle. Exercise is a basic therapeutic procedure in the management of neuromuscular disease, yet far less is known of its applications than, say) chemotherapeutic agents in infectious disease. Fundamental knowledge is lacking in areas one would deem crucial. What should be the intensity of exercises in a given type of impairment? What is the proper duration of exercise ? One hears opinions regarding these variables but nowhere can one find solid principles.Several reports have indicated that patients with disease of the lower motoneurone lost strength after excessive activity (Lovett, 1917;Kendall and Kendall, 1939;Lundervold, 1942;Green, 1949;Seddon, 1949;Hyman, 1953;Mitchell, 1953;Bennett and Knowlton, 1958;Hnik, 1962). Clinical studies designed to determine the effect of exercise after neuronal damage have indicated that exercise does not damage muscle but, on the contrary, they have consistently borne out the efficacy of brief repetitive therapeutic exercises (Delorme et al

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