title: Improving functional capacity in heart failure: the need for a multifaceted approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Functional capacity is a broad term that describes a person's ability to perform the daily activities that require physical exertion. Patients diagnosed with heart failure, regardless of cause, demonstrate a compromised functional capacity. The ability to perform aerobic activities is a central, but not complete, determinant of functional capacity. Muscular strength and endurance are other important elements of functional capacity. It is well established that patients with heart failure demonstrate attenuated muscular strength and endurance as a consequence of their disease process. Typically, a heart failure patient's ability to perform daily activities that are either aerobic or resistive in nature is compromised and contributes to the decline in functional capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is an abundance of literature demonstrating that exercise training improves aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance in those with heart failure. These training benefits translate to an improvement in functional capacity and an enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. There are several approaches to exercise training in the heart failure population, each of which has implications for the degree to which functional capacity can be improved.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review summarizes the current body of literature related to exercise training as a means of optimizing functional capacity in patients with heart failure.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Physical Therapy and Integrative Physiology Laboratory, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois bDepartment of Physical Therapy, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA cCardiopulmonary Physiotherapy Laboratory, Federal University of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arena
authors.forename: Lawrence P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Cahalin
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borghi-Silva
authors.forename: Shane A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000503:physiopathology; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D015444:Exercise; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology; D055070:Resistance Training; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000503:physiopathology