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Published on: April 19, 2019
Exercise Participation and Rehabilitation in Cardiomyopathies: An Updated Review
Domitilla Russo1, Cristina Gambardella2, Maurizio Volterrani3
1Department of Cardiology, Santo Spirito Hospital, 00193 Rome, Italy.
Insights
Individualized exercise and cardiac rehabilitation can improve outcomes for patients with cardiomyopathies (HCM, DCM, ACM). Guidelines now support supervised physical activity and reassessment for sports participation in selected individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Sports Medicine
- Genetics
Background:
- Cardiomyopathies (HCM, DCM, ACM) pose challenges for exercise and rehabilitation.
- Historically, physical activity was restricted due to risks of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current evidence on exercise, sports participation, and rehabilitation for HCM, DCM, and ACM.
- To inform international guideline recommendations and highlight personalized approaches.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of current evidence.
- Analysis of international guideline recommendations.
- Focus on shared decision-making and risk stratification.
Main Results:
- Individualized exercise programs can enhance functional capacity and quality of life.
- Current guidelines support supervised physical activity and reassessment for competitive sports in selected patients.
- Addresses emerging scenarios like ICDs and genotype-positive/phenotype-negative individuals.
Conclusions:
- Personalized exercise and rehabilitation are crucial for managing cardiomyopathies.
- Shared decision-making, considering specific cardiomyopathy type and risk, is essential.
- Guidelines increasingly support carefully managed sports participation.
Abstract:
Cardiomyopathies, including hypertrophic (HCM), dilated (DCM), and arrhythmogenic (ACM) forms, represent a challenge in cardiovascular medicine, in particular regarding exercise participation and cardiac rehabilitation. Traditionally, physical activity was restricted in these patients due to concerns over arrhythmic risk and sudden cardiac death. However, current evidence suggests that individualized exercise programs, under clinical supervision, can enhance functional capacity, improve quality of life, and sometimes prognosis in selected patients. Contemporary European and North American guidelines suggest that participation in competitive sports may be reasonable for athletes with genetic cardiomyopathies, provided that individual risk is regularly and systematically reassessed. The aim of this review is to synthetize current evidence on exercise training, sports participation and rehabilitation in the three major cardiomyopathies-hypertrophic, dilated, and arrhythmogenic-which have informed the latest international guideline recommendations. Particular attention is given to the essential role of shared decision-making, highlighting the importance of a personalized approach based on the specific type of cardiomyopathy, arrhythmic risk stratification, and individual patient factors. In addition, the review addresses two emerging clinical scenarios: sports participation in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and current recommendations for genotype-positive/phenotype-negative individuals at risk of cardiomyopathy.
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