Physical activity and exercise training in preventive cardiology
Physical activity (PA) and exercise training (ET) are central and indispensable components for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In healthy individuals, PA reduces all-cause and CV mortality and has confirmed beneficial effects on the cardiovascular risk profile. In secondary prevention, PA counselling und ET are two of the core components of a multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program. Exercise-based CR is an established strategy in the secondary prevention of CV disease. It improves survival, reduces hospital admissions, improves cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and quality of life (QoL). However, these beneficial effects require regular attendance under professional supervision and adherence to recommended guidelines. In patients with heart disease, proper patient assessment with a standardized exercise test as a basis for a tailored ET prescription is required. In healthy subjects this is advocated only in selected groups. Current guidelines recommend at least 150 min/week of moderate-intensity continuous aerobic PA in both healthy individuals as well as those with cardiac disease. In healthy adults, alternatively intensity can be increased and volume can be halved. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a relatively new training modality and may be used complementary to continuous training in selected patient groups. HIIT seems to be superior compared to moderate continuous exercise in patients with cardio metabolic disease with regard to effects on the CV risk profile, endothelial function, improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, and a reverse cardiac remodelling in patients with heart failure. One of the major challenges in preventive cardiology is the improvement of long-term adherence to PA recommendations. The aim of this article is to give an overview from the preventive cardiologist’s point of view with a focus on endurance ET prescription for the audience of sports and exercise medicine physicians.