Lower Cardiovascular Stress during Resistance Training Performed with Inter-Repetition Rests in Elderly Coronary Patients.

Olga Ribeiro-Torres,Hassane Zouhal,Carl Foster,François Carré,Arilson Fernandes M De Sousa,Daniel Boullosa,Eliseo Iglesias-Soler,Maelán Fontes-Villalba

doi:10.3390/medicina56060264

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Hemodynamic stress during resistance training is often a reason why this training method is not used in cardiac patients. A lifting protocol that imposes rests between repetitions (IRRT) may provide less hemodynamic stress compared to traditional resistance training (TT). The aim of this study was to verify differences between set configurations on hemodynamic stress responses in resistance training. Materials and Methods: We compared hemodynamic (heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and rate pressure product (RPP)) responses assessed with the auscultatory method in elderly (age = 75.3 ± 7.3 years) coronary male patients who were participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program allocated to either TT or IRRT with the same load (kg) and total number of repetitions (24) in the bilateral leg extension exercise. Results: IRRT resulted in significant lower values than TT for RPP at repetitions 8 (p = 0.024; G = 0.329; 95% CI: 0.061, 0.598) and 16 (p = 0.014; G = 0.483; 95% CI: 0.112, 0.854). Conclusions: IRRT appears to be a viable method of reducing the hemodynamic response (i.e., RPP) to resistance training and, thus, may contribute to the safety of cardiac rehabilitation programs. Further studies with more cardiac patients and other measurement techniques should be conducted to confirm these important findings.

Highlights

Resistance training (RT) has been traditionally considered less suitable for cardiac patients than aerobic training
Exercises with high loads (>70% repetition maximum (RM)) and a reduced number of repetitions, as this approach results in reduced cardiovascular stress, namely heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), and blood pressure (BP) responses, while favoring greater strength improvements in an efficient manner [8,9,10,11,12]
Iglesias-Soler et al [15] showed in athletes that the imposes rests between repetitions (IRRT) in a squat exercise session elicited lower mean systolic BP (SBP) and rate pressure product (RPP) than a traditional set configuration (TT)

Summary

Introduction

Resistance training (RT) has been traditionally considered less suitable for cardiac patients than aerobic training. While some guidelines [7] still recommend the use of low-to-moderate intensities during RT for cardiac patients, more recent evidence suggests the use of dynamic RT exercises with high loads (>70% repetition maximum (RM)) and a reduced number of repetitions, as this approach results in reduced cardiovascular stress, namely heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), and blood pressure (BP) responses, while favoring greater strength improvements in an efficient manner [8,9,10,11,12]. Materials and Methods: We compared hemodynamic (heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and rate pressure product (RPP)) responses assessed with the auscultatory method in elderly (age = 75.3 ± 7.3 years) coronary male patients who were participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program allocated to either TT or IRRT with the same load (kg) and total number of repetitions (24) in the bilateral leg extension exercise. Further studies with more cardiac patients and other measurement techniques should be conducted to confirm these important findings

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Discussion

Conclusion