Health Promotion in Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients through the Use of a High-Intensity Interval Training Protocol

Abstract

One of these methods is through the use of cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a health promotion strategy to help return cardiac patients to their previous level of functioning, increase health, decrease comorbidities and promote education and lifestyle change. For select patients, another alternative exercise plan may exist to gain even better results. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has shown positive training results for athletes and many studies show that it may also be an effective exercise modality for many cardiac patients instead of the traditional circuit training method. This article will review current literature on the effects of HIIT on CR patients as well as a sample HIIT protocol for instituting this treatment with appropriate patients.