Influence of short term physical training on exercise tolerance after myocardial infarction

Fourteen patients with stabilized myocardial infarction were submitted to a functional evaluation before and after 3 sessions of interval training on the bicycle ergometer. With submaximal exercise, myocardial load decreases after short term training, the heart rate and the blood pressure heart rate product being significantly lower for the same oxygen consumption. Maximal working capacity, expressed in watts or oxygen consumption, increases significantly after short term training, the benefit being one third of that obtained after 6 wk training. These early changes in functional capacity are positively correlated with those obtained by a more prolonged rehabilitation program. Leg muscular blood flow during submaximal and maximal exercise tends to increase after short term training, although this change is not systematic and thus not significant.SCOPUS: ar.j