This intensity is well tolerated, with no exercise-related deaths reported in a systematic review of published exercise training involving over 100 000 patient hours of exercise (Smart 2011). Wisloff et al (2007) evaluated

a novel, high intensity aerobic interval training (AIT) approach and found this produced significant benefits over moderate, continuous aerobic exercise. These findings raise the question: has the traditional approach been too conservative? Before exercise practitioners rush to adopt high intensity exercise prescription in clinical groups, such as heart failure, Verteporfin molecular weight several salient points related to the study should be considered: first, the investigators were a highly trained and specialised group which included cardiologists; second, the study was performed in carefully screened and selected patients who were clinically stable and on optimal medical therapy; and third, all participants were at least 12 months post myocardial infarction. Accordingly, their risk of adverse events is markedly less than for many patients referred to clinical programs. Importantly, the study documents only 200 hours of experience selleck compound with AIT, a ‘drop in the ocean’ compared with that of moderate continuous aerobic exercise, so assumptions about safety are premature. Also

noteworthy is that perceived exertion levels during AIT averaged 17 (‘very hard’). Ongoing adherence to such effort requires high personal motivation, a trait less common in the broader patient population Adenylyl cyclase than study volunteers. The study by Wisloff et al (2007) challenges convention. However, practitioners should always apply due prudence when translating research into clinical practice.

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“Summary of: Vasseljen O et al (2012) Effect of core stability exercises on feedforward activation of deep abdominal muscles in chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial Spine 37: 1101–1108. [Prepared by Margreth Grotle and Kåre B Hagen, CAP Editors.] Question: Does timing of abdominal muscle activation in response to rapid shoulder flexion change after 8 weeks with low-load core stability exercises (CSE), high-load sling exercises (SE), or general exercises (GE) in chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP) patients? Design: A randomised, controlled trial with concealed allocation. Setting: Patients were recruited from general practitioners, physiotherapists, or by advertising at a regional hospital in Norway. Participants: Men and women, aged 18–60 years, with chronic nonspecific LBP for 3 months or more, and pain score of 2 or more on a 0–10 numeric rating scale were included. Key exclusion criteria included radiating pain below the knee or neurological signs from nerve root compression, and former back surgery. Randomisation of 109 participants allocated 36 to CSE, 36 to SE, and 37 to GE. Interventions: Patients in the three groups attended treatment once a week for 8 weeks, supervised by a physiotherapist.