Self Selected Exercise Intensity in PAD Patients
Although the benefits of supervised walking training in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and symptoms of intermittent claudication (IC) are well established, one of the main problems found in this type of protocol is low adherence to training, which is possibly related to pain during training. In addition, little is known about the impact of performing exercise with pain on cerebral blood flow and cardiovascular health indicators. Thus, the objective of the present study will be to analyze the acute effects of walking exercise with self-selected intensity on the cardiovascular health indicators of patients with PAD. Therefore, 17 patients with PAD will undergo three experimental sessions: exercise with self-selected intensity, exercise until maximum pain and control. The responses of the cardiovascular variables (heart rate variability, blood pressure, heart rate, arterial stiffness and endothelial function) will be obtained before and after the sessions. In addition, during the session cardiovascular responses (cerebral blood flow, blood pressure and heart rate), perceptual and affective responses, as well as information about the exercises performed during the session will be obtained. The responses before and after exercise will be analyzed using the two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures (ANOVA) and the Newman-Keuls post-hoc test. The value of P <0.05 will be considered significant.
Start: May 2020