The Cardiovascular Response to Circuit Weight Training in Patients With Cardiac Disease

Abstract

To determine if a program of upper-body strengthening can be safely performed by patients with cardiac disease, the cardiovascular responses of 13 men with known coronary artery disease were evaluated during a regime of upper-body circuit weight training and traditional aerobic exercise. Changes in heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), electrocardiogram (ECG), and segmental left ventricular wall motion were compared. Circuit weight training consisted of eight exercise stations. Each subject completed two circuits while performing ten repetitions per station at 40% to 60% of one-movement maximum with 60 seconds of rest between stations. Aerobic exercise consisted of 35 minutes of treadmill exercise at 85% maximal HR. No ischemic ECG responses or dysrhythmias occurred during either exercise period. Similar increases in HR were observed during circuit weight training and aerobic exercise (33 ± 4 and 39 ± 3 beats/min, respectively (mean ± SEM). During aerobic exercise, systolic and diastolic BP increased by 37 ± 4 (P < .01) and 12 ± 3 mm Hg (P < .025), respectively. In contrast, increases in BP during circuit weight training were not observed. Changes that occurred in segmental left ventricular wall motion during each exercise were analyzed with two-dimensional echocardiography to detect the development of exercise-induced ischemia. A worsening of wall motion occurred in five of 61 left ventricular segments during aerobic exercise, but in only one segment during circuit weight training. Thus, circuit weight training compared favorably with traditional aerobic exercise in this group of patients with cardiac disease, and appears to be a safe form of training.