title: Aerobic cycle exercising in a rehabilitation program with a wider choice of intensity.
abstract: When patients in rehabilitation programs use cycle ergometers for aerobic fitness training, the exercise intensity is often restricted to a small range of heart rate. In this study, a wider choice of intensities was left to the patients without giving up the potential to reduce cardiac risks factors. 24 patients in 3-wk. rehabilitation programs could choose the exercise intensity up to a workload limit preset by the physical therapist. 20 of them exercised at an intensity covering the full range between the aerobic and anaerobic lactate threshold and 4 a little above. The opportunity to vary the workload was frequently used by 67%. In 75% of the exercise sessions, the patients' average heart rates exceeded moderate heart-rate targets recommended in rehabilitation and health promotion for people with moderate cardiac risks without a graded exercise test. In 72% of these sessions, the anaerobic lactate threshold at 4 mmol/L was not exceeded. But a tendency of 33% of the patients to exercise at higher blood lactate or blood pressure levels underlined the necessity of limiting the exercise intensity.
authors.affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen.
authors.forename: Frank L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Mertesdorf
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmitz
mesh_terms: D000072038:Cardiac Rehabilitation; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004867:Equipment Design; D016552:Ergometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D016730:Program Development