[Exercise training and rehabilitation techniques in patients with coronary disease]

Exercise rehabilitation is widely prescribed for patients with coronary artery disease and requires the same rigorous approach as physical training in athletes. Training techniques have been carefully described, but the precise physiological justification remains to be elucidated. In order to target the physiological mechanisms which rehabilitation training is designed to improve, it is necessary to have a coherent strategy and apply the techniques with a clear idea of the objective to be attained. We describe the programme we propose to our patients. First, patients are advised to fraction their exercise into short relatively intense periods of exertion separated by rest periods as long as the exertion period. This method is designed to develop the "power" of the aerobic energy system. Later, we progressively introduce longer periods of training at moderate intensity. This part of the rehabilitation is designed to develop the "capacity" of the aerobic system. The decision to develop work capacity is based on the patient's response to the first part of the rehabilitation programme.