Abstract

A previous study showed the importance of physical exercise in improving heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) at rest. Studies have shown that resting HR is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, which causes mortality in men and women with and without diagnosed cardiovascular disease, and that reducing hypertension would alone reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. But published guidelines did not recommend high-intensity exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this randomised study was to assess the effect and comparison of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) versus moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) representing the same total training load on resting HR and BP in coronary artery disease (CAD). Twelve CAD patients were randomised to supervise either HIIT (65–75% HR peak) for 33 min or MICT for 41 min, three times a week for 8 weeks. The result showed that HIIT decreased significantly the resting HR (p=0.03), and the systolic (p=0.006) and diastolic (p=0.03) BP; also MICT decreased these parameters but they were not significant. However, there was no significant difference between HIIT versus MICT. Therefore, HIIT was superior to MICT for improving resting HR and BP in CAD patients. The present data may be useful in designing effective training programme for improving health among CAD patients in the future.