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Background: International guidelines recommend endurance (ET) and strength training (ST) in patients with chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), but only provide rough guidance on how to set the initial training load. This may unintentionally lead to practice variation and inadequate training load adjustments. This study aimed to develop practical recommendations on tailoring ET and ST based on practices from international experts from the field of exercise training in CRDs., Methods: 35 experts were invited to address a 64-item online survey about how they prescribe and adjust exercise training., Results: Cycling (97%) and walking (86%) were the most commonly implemented ET modalities. Continuous endurance training (CET, 83%) and interval endurance training (IET, 86%) were the frequently applied ET types. Criteria to prescribe IET instead of CET were: patients do not tolerate CET due to dyspnoea at the initial training session (79%), intense breathlessness during initial exercise assessment (76%), and/or profound exercise-induced oxygen desaturation (59%). For ST, most experts (68%) recommend 3 sets per exercise; 62% of experts set the intensity at a specific load that patients can tolerate for a range of 8 to 15 repetitions per set. Also, 56% of experts advise patients to approach local muscular exhaustion at the end of a single ST set., Conclusions: The experts´ practices were summarized to develop practical recommendations in the form of flowcharts on how experts apply and adjust CET, IET, and ST in patients with CRDs. These recommendations may guide health care professionals to optimize exercise training programs in patients with CRDs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Increasing physical activity (PA) is considered to be an important factor for the efficient management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Successful methods required to achieve improvements in PA following pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), however, are rarely reported. Therefore, we will conduct this trial to evaluate the effectiveness of using a COPD management program delivered to the patient via the KAIA COPD app, a mobile medical application, after the completion of PR., Methods: This is the protocol for a randomized, controlled, open-label, multicentered trial that will be carried out at inpatient PR hospital centers in Germany and Switzerland. The interventions will involve the use of the KAIA COPD app program (Arm 1) or an active comparator, i.e., usual care (Arm 2). Patients completing an in-hospital PR program and consenting to participate in the study will be screened with the inclusion and exclusion criteria and enrolled in the study. After fulfilling the screening requirements, the patients will be randomized into one of the two arms with parallel group assignment in a 1:1 ratio. The training program will be delivered to the participants grouped in Arm 1 via the KAIA COPD app and to participants grouped in Arm 2 via the regular recommendations or standard of care by the PI. In total, 104 participants will be included in the trial. The treatment period will last for 24 weeks. Electronic versions of questionnaires will be used to collect patient-reported assessments remotely. The primary outcome measure is the change in physical activity of the intervention group in comparison to the control group, measured over 1 week as the mean steps per day with a Polar A 370 activity tracker, from baseline (end of PR) to the 6-month follow-up. The secondary outcome measures are functional exercise capacity, health status, sleep quality, exacerbation rate, and depression and anxiety symptoms assessed at several intervals., Discussion: This study seeks to prove the effects of the KAIA COPD mobile application in COPD patients after PR. The app offers educational, exercise training plus activity monitoring and motivational programs that can be easily implemented in the patient's home setting, enabling patients to maintain the effects that are typically elicited in the short term after pulmonary rehabilitation for the long term., Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register ( DRKS00017275 ). Protocol version 2.0 dated 3 June 2019.

Background:  Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined as an elevation of mean pulmonary-arterial pressure by > 20 mmHg at rest, which may lead to right heart failure. Physical exercise has not been regularly recommended for PH patients for fear of symptom deterioration or occurrence of exercise-induced adverse events., Methods:  Three electronic databases were searched for randomized, controlled trials investigating exercise training in PH patients using the following keywords: "pulmonary hypertension" OR "pulmonary arterial hypertension" AND "exercise" OR "pulmonary rehabilitation" AND "randomized"., Results:  Five studies involving 187 PH patients were included in this systematic review. Exercise programs lasted for 3 - 12 weeks (e. g. endurance training for 10 - 45 minutes; 60 - 80 % of the peak heart rate). PH patients significantly improved exercise capacity compared to controls in 6-minute walk distance (+ 45 m; 95 % CI: 26 m - 64 m) or peak oxygen consumption (+ 2.3 ml/kg/min; 95 % CI: 1.8 - 2.9 ml/kg/min), both p < 0.001. Also, physical and mental quality of life improved significantly by exercise training. No exercise-induced adverse events were observed., Conclusion:  Supervised exercise training can safely and significantly improve physical performance and quality of life in clinically stable PH patients with optimal drug treatment. However, larger studies including a wider range of PH are mandatory., Competing Interests: Die Autoren erklären, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Several studies have shown that whole-body vibration training (WBVT) improves exercise capacity in patients with severe COPD. The aim of this study was to investigate the determinants of improved exercise capacity following WBVT., Methods: Seventy-four COPD patients (FEV 1 : 34 ± 9%predicted) were recruited during a 3-week inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program. Conventional endurance and strength exercises were supplemented with self-paced dynamic squat training sessions (4bouts*2min, 3times/wk). Patients were randomly allocated to either a WBVT-group performing squat training on a side-alternating vibration platform (Galileo) at a high intensity (24-26 Hz) or a control group performing squat training without WBVT., Results: Patients in the WBVT group significantly improved postural balance in several domains compared to the control-group (i.e. tandem stance: WBVT +20% (95%CI 14 to 26) vs. control -10% (95%CI 6 to 15), p < 0.001; one-leg stance: WBVT +11% (95%CI 4 to 19) vs. control -8% (95%CI -19 to 3), p = 0.009). Six-minute walk distance and muscle power but not muscle strength were also significantly improved compared to control group., Conclusions: Implementation of WBVT improves postural balance performance and muscle power output. The neuromuscular adaptation related to improved balance performance may be an important mechanism of the improvement in exercise capacity after WBVT especially in COPD patients with impaired balance performance and low exercise capacity., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)