Circuit and Resistance Training in COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease with deteriorating cardiopulmonary function that decreases the health-related quality of life (HRQL) and exercise capacity. Patients with COPD often have cardiovascular and muscular problems that hinder oxygen uptake by peripheral tissues, resulting in poor oxygen consumption efficiency. Only 20% of the estimated COPD cases are currently being identified and diagnosed in primary care in Pakistan. Circuit training should be considered the most effective strategy to improve exercise capacity in patients with COPD. Supervision of the programs improves exercise capacity. Concerning strength outcome, the Circuit Training increased the strength of the upper and lower extremities. Only the magnitude of strength performance appears to be influenced by the training (number of sessions and frequency) and the training status. Moreover, low and moderate intensities and short rest time between exercises increase the magnitude of change in fat mass loss. Therefore, CT has been shown to be an effective method for improving body composition, cardio-respiratory fitness, and strength of the lower and upper limbs. Moreover, CT has been shown to elicit higher oxygen consumption during the session in comparison to a traditional strength-training session. Modalities of resistance training using elastic components presented similar effects on muscle strength, health status, exercise capacity, body composition and daily level of physical activity in individuals with COPD. The effects of elastic resistance were similar to conventional resistance training. CT significantly improves aerobic performance (i.e., increase maximum aerobic speed and aerobic performance) and VO2max (average 6.3%), showing that this type of training increases cardio-respiratory fitness independent of the training protocol. CT had an overall significant and large effect on upper (bench press) and lower strength (leg extension) performance (1-RM).only the magnitude of strength performance appears to be influenced by the training (i.e., number of sessions and frequency) and population characteristics (i.e., training status).