Clinical InvestigationEffects of Interval Cycle Training With or Without Strength Training on Vascular Reactivity in Heart Failure Patients
Section snippets
Patient Study Population
The study population consisted of 41 consecutive patients with stable systolic heart failure and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional Class ≤III and optimal medical treatment including β-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors diuretics, spironolactone, amiodarone, and digoxin. All patients included at the study had a diagnosis of systolic heart failure based on symptoms/signs typical of heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction less than 45% at stable optimal
Results
Forty-one CHF patients were consecutively considered eligible for inclusion in the study and were initially recruited. Twenty-one patients were finally randomized in the interval cycle training group and 20 patients at the combined group. Five patients from the interval cycle training group and 2 patients from the combined group did not complete the program (withdrew). One patient from each group was excluded because of diabetes mellitus. Four patients (1 from the aerobic group) were excluded
Discussion
This study has shown that exercise training improves vascular reactivity in CHF patients after a 3-month rehabilitation program. Specifically, high-intensity interval cycle training combined with strength training induces significant improvement in vascular reactivity in CHF patients compared with interval training alone. Both exercise groups increased exercise capacity in CHF patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the combined interval and strength training effects on
Conclusion
Exercise training improves vascular reactivity in CHF patients during a 3-month rehabilitation program. A combined program consisting of high-intensity interval cycle exercise and strength training appeared more beneficial and conferred greater improvements on vascular reactivity than interval training alone. These findings suggest that strength training should be added as a complementary program to interval training in maximizing exercise beneficial effects.
Disclosures
None.
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Partially funded by a grant from the Special Account for Research Grants of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and by the Thorax Foundation.
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