Impact of strength training for lower limbs in patients with heart failure. Randomized controlled trial.

Strength training for heart failure

Abstract

Background: heart failure (HF) represents a public health problem in the world, either because of its increasing prevalence, or because of the cost involved in treatment. Objective: to determine the impact of strength training for lower limbs in patients with heart failure. Methods: randomized controlled trial over a period of 3 years with an initial sample of 920 patients with HF divided into 2 groups (control group and experimental group of aerobic exercise plus strength training in lower limbs). Each patient was treated with 24 sessions of 60 minutes each, for 2 months. Samples were taken for glycemia and lipid profile and tests were done for aerobic capacity, maximum heart rate (MHR), and anthropometry, clinical and hemodynamic parameters. Results: the experimental group presented post-training changes in the ejection fraction (40±3.5 vs 48±1.3), MHR (148±12 vs 161±8), fat percentage (29±4.3 vs 23±4.9), muscle (30±12.9 vs 38±6.3), abdominal circumference (93±9.7 vs 84±5.4), glucose (134±9.5 vs 115±4,8), body mass index (31±4.6 vs 25±3.5), total cholesterol (208±29.6 vs 173±16.5), triglycerides (160±18.2 vs 138±7.7), HDL (45±9.3 vs 51±2.3), LDL (112±12.7 vs 109±11.6) (p = <0.05). Conclusions: strength training in lower limbs inevitably benefits patients with HF. The patients operated on in this experimental group presented improvement in all the evaluated variables (p= <0.05). And we emphasize that the benefits are superior to those presented by a training program without strength.