AUTHOR=Kambic Tim , Šarabon Nejc , Lainscak Mitja , Hadžić Vedran 

TITLE=Combined resistance training with aerobic training improves physical performance in patients with coronary artery disease: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled clinical trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.909385

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.909385

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>The efficacy of combined resistance training (RT) and aerobic training (AT) compared with AT alone is well established in cardiac rehabilitation (CR); however, it remains to be elucidated whether RT load (high load [HL] vs. low load [LL]) modifies the outcomes. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of HL-RT and LL-RT combined with AT in comparison to AT alone on body composition and physical performance in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) enrolled in phase II CR.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We randomized 79 patients with a stable CAD to 12 weeks of lower limb LL-RT + AT (35–40% of one repetition maximum [1-RM]; <italic>n</italic> = 28), HL-RT + AT (70–80% of 1-RM; <italic>n</italic> = 26), or AT (<italic>n</italic> = 25). Fifty-nine patients (75% men) with mean (standard deviation) age 61 (8) years and left ventricular ejection fraction 53 (9)% completed LL-RT (<italic>n</italic> = 19), HL-RT (<italic>n</italic> = 21) and AT (<italic>n</italic> = 19). Body composition and physical performance (upper and lower submaximal muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and mobility) were measured at baseline and post-training.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Training intervention had no significant impact on time × group interaction in the body composition measures. There was a significant time × group interaction for the gait speed test, chair sit-and-reach test, arm curl test, Stork balance test, up and go test, STS-5, and 6-min walk distance (<italic>p</italic>-values ≤ 0.001–0.04) following the training intervention. After the training intervention, HL-RT improved gait speed (+12%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.044), arm curl (+13%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.037), and time of Up and Go test (+9%, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) to a greater extent compared with AT group, while there was a greater improvement in time of Up and Go test (+18%, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and time of five sit-to-stand tests (+14%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.016) following LL-RT when compared with AT. There were no differences between HL-RT and LL-RT in post-training improvement in any of the physical performance measures.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The combination of AT with HL-RT or LL-RT promoted similar improvements in physical performance, which were superior to AT. Therefore, both types of combined AT and RT can be applied to patients with CAD.</p></sec><sec><title>Clinical trial registration</title><p>[<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04638764" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04638764</ext-link>] Identifier [NCT04638764].</p></sec>