20 Aug 2014
High-intensity workouts more beneficial for heart transplant survivors: study
BY Chris Dodd
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been proven to be beneficial for clinically stable heart transplant recipients, with workouts helping to increase exercise capacity, maintain control of blood pressure and improve resting heart rates, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation.
The study has compared the impact of high intensity workouts to what is achieved by moderate exercise patterns.
Survival rates for recipients of heart transplants have grown in recent years, furthering a desire for researchers to look at how recipients can maximise benefits from exercise to improve quality of life.
The research, led by Christian Dall, PhD fellow, of the Bispebjerg Hospital at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, saw participants split into two groups, with one set taking part in high-intensity sessions for 12 weeks, while the other undertook moderate workout plans.
After the 12-week period, each group was told to stop and return to their daily routines for five months, before embarking on the opposite exercise plan conducted by the other group.
The researchers found that the high-intensity plan yielded a number of important, positive results.
They found that maximum oxygen uptake was increased by 17 per cent when a group performed high-intensity interval training, compared with just 10 per cent in the moderate-intensity group.
Also, the systolic blood pressure (pressure on the arteries when the heart contracts) of the high-density group had decreased considerably, compared to the moderate-intensity group, whose levels stayed the same levels.
Meanwhile, heart rate recovery improved across both groups.
Increasing amounts of research have spotlighted the cross-society health benefits of taking part in high-intensity workouts, with one study recently suggesting that interval workouts could help to solve a number of health challenges posed by an ageing population.
Elsewhere, sufferers of type 2 diabetes could also benefit from interval training, according to research conducted by another expert at the University of Copenhagen.
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