International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 05/Mar/2021;34(2):157-8.
Home-Based Resistance Training in Heart Diseases: Don’t Stop the Music, your Muscles are still Listening
Gabriel Dias Rodrigues
, Pedro Paulo da Silva Soares
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a well-known cause of death and physical incapacity worldwide. Heart failure (HF) is a common disease resulting from multiple etiologies that contribute to decreasing physical capacity and quality of life (QOL)., Not long ago physical exercises were discouraged in CVDs, but evidence-based exercise programs augment QOL, reduce mortality and hospital readmission in HF2. Strength training is an important component of a cardiac rehabilitation program due to its close relationship with improvements in functional capacity reverberating in activities of daily living and QOL.
Unfortunately, supervised-rehabilitation programs in fitness centers are not widely available for the majority of patients with heart disease. Nevertheless, home-based rehabilitation programs could be more accessible to most patients, because of its relatively low cost and feasibility. Especially during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, many opportunities to exercise were suspended, including cardiac rehabilitation services and community health programs. Also, social distancing increased sedentarism numbers and several position statements have encouraged people to stay active at home, trying to reverse or counterbalance the additional impact of social distance on physical inactivity., In a practical perspective, resistance training is conventionally performed through free weights or weight machines that usually require extensive physical space and outside facilities (i.e., gym or rehabilitation centers). Thus, resistance exercises, in particular, are not easily adopted at home and could be omitted from home-based cardiac rehabilitation. To underscore, a question that must be made: How patients remain strong at home?
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