Influence of short-term physical training on exercise tolerance after myocardial infarction

14 patients with stabilized myocardial infarction were submitted to a functional evaluation before and after 3 sessions of interval training on the bicycle ergometer. With submaximal exercise, myocardial load decreases after short-term training, the heart rate and the blood pressure--heart rate product being significantly lower for the same oxygen consumption. Maximal working capacity, expressed in watts or oxygen consumption, increases significantly after short-term training, the benefit being one-third of that obtained after 6 weeks' training. These early changes in functional capacity are positively correlated with those obtained by a more prolonged rehabilitation program. Leg muscular blood flow during submaximal and maximal exercise tends to increase after short-term training, although this change is not systematic and thus not significant.