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Assessment of a circuit of exercises through heart rate response
1Physiotherapy Service, Camden and Islington Health Services NHS Trust, Middlesex Hospital, London, UK.
Objective:
A circuit of seven exercises was designed for a cardiac population. This study evaluated whether the patients achieved their training heart rate during the circuit, recommended to be 70-85% of the maximum heart rate achieved during an exercise test.
Design:
Patients were randomly allocated to a starting exercise to balance any order effect from performing the exercises in a given sequence. Each of the seven exercises was performed for 30 s, so one circuit lasted 3.5 min. The circuit was repeated five times.
Patients:
Twenty patients who had had myocardial infarctions within 6 weeks of the study participated.
Outcome:
Heart rate was measured to assess the stress placed on the cardiorespiratory system during the circuit. Measurements were taken at 10 and 20 s following the termination of each exercise and over two repetitions of the circuit (a total of 14 exercise periods).
Results And Conclusion:
Comparisons of the readings taken at 10 and 20 s indicated, contrary to previously published findings, that no significant heart rate deceleration occurred within this period. Every exercise maintained the mean heart rate within the specified band of 70-85% of the maximum heart rate achieved during the exercise test. The study has shown that the selected exercises were suitable for use during a cardiac rehabilitation programme.