Contrary to qualms about deleterious effects on the heart, people with chronic heart failure can safely undertake a resistance training program, Australian researchers report. In fact, such training appears to have a beneficial effect on how strongly the heart is able to pump blood.

Resistance training has been shown to improve the functional ability of people with chronic heart failure to perform activities of daily living, and to improve their overall quality of life. However, there have been concerns that it may accelerate the remodeling process that affects the main pumping chamber of the heart - the left ventricle - when chronic heart failure sets in.

To investigate, Dr. Itamar Levinger, from Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne, and colleagues used ultrasound to assess the structure and function of the left ventricles of eight men with heart failure who participated in an 8-week resistance training program and seven similar men who did not.

The investigators’ findings appear in the International Journal of Cardiology. The resistance training did not appear to have a significant effect on left ventricle measurements, the report indicates.

Yet, the patients who undertook the resistance training showed significant increases in the amount of blood the heart was able to pump with each beat, compared with the non-training group.

“Since resistance training improves functional ability and quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure without causing a reduction in left ventricular contractile function or structure it is recommended to add this training regime to the regular exercise rehabilitation programs of these patients,” Levinger’s team concludes.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cardiology, November 2, 2005.