A practical guide to exercise training for heart failure patients.

BACKGROUND: Exercise training has been shown to improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure. We sought to examine the optimal strategy of exercise training for patients with heart failure.
METHODS: Review of the published data on the characteristics of the training program, with comparison of physiologic markers of exercise capacity in heart failure patients and healthy individuals and comparison of the change in these characteristics after an exercise training program.
RESULTS: Many factors, including the duration, supervision, and venue of exercise training; the volume of working muscle; the delivery mode (eg, continuous vs. intermittent exercise), training intensity; and the concurrent effects of medical treatments may influence the results of exercise training in heart failure. Starting in an individually prescribed and safely monitored hospital-based program, followed by progression to an ongoing and progressive home program of exercise appears to be the best solution to the barriers of anxiety, adherence, and "ease of access" encountered by the heart failure patient.
CONCLUSIONS: Various exercise training programs have been shown to improve exercise capacity and symptom status in heart failure, but these improvements may only be preserved with an ongoing maintenance program.