Phase III cardiac rehabilitation after CABG: Combined aerobic and strengthening exercise protocols

Abstract

Aims Little is known of the short-term effects of combined aerobic and strengthening exercises—as components of phase III cardiac rehabilitation— in patients of Middle Eastern origin who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study aimed to assess the efficacy of exercise protocols used during phase III cardiac rehabilitation of patients from Iran who had undergone this procedure. Methods The study compared the effect of combined aerobic and strengthening exercises vs aerobics alone on the functional capacity, muscle strength, serum lipids and blood pressure of 88 patients, 4-5 weeks after CABG. A control group performed aerobics while three experimental groups performed combined aerobic and strengthening exercises, 5 days a week over 5 weeks. The functional capacity, muscle strength and serum lipids were determined at baseline and specific time points during the study. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured before and after each session. Findings The combined exercise protocols improved the functional capacity and muscle strength to a significantly greater extent than the aerobic protocol. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins and triglyceride levels decreased insignificantly, however, the high-density lipoproteins level increased significantly in all groups. Systolic blood pressure declined insignificantly but the diastolic blood pressure remained unchanged in all groups. Conclusions The results suggest that the combined exercises were superior to the aerobics alone for positive changes in patients’ functional capacity and muscle strength, with effects lasting up to follow-up.