Combined Effect of Aerobic and Resistance Interval Training on Ejection Fraction in Myocardial Infarction

Annually about 17 million deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Globally myocardial infarction (MI) is the established leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Ejection fraction (EF), which is clinical predictor of long term mortality and marker of myocardial contractility, is significantly reduced after MI. 2 Cardiac rehabilitation is well established and costeffective treatment. Patients receiving cardiac rehabilitation along with medical treatment have a survival rate of 95% at 3 years, as compared to 64% of those who are on medical treatment only. Resistance training combined with aerobic training is now considered integral part in rehabilitation of patients with MI. Recent literature supports that aerobic interval training (AIT) alone or in combination with resistance has no safety hazards and is more effective than continuous moderate intensity training in improving EF, stroke volume, and risk factors. ny studies conclude that combination of aerobic and resistance interval training has positive effect on EF. To the best of authors' knowledge, there has been no study on head to head comparison of these two cardiac rehabilitation techniques. Moreover, outcome of EF was mostly seen in heart failure patients. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine whether combination of resistance training with AIT has superior effects on these outcomes for its applicability in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programmes.