| Long Term Exercise - LTE |
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 LTE is also sometimes referred to as maintenance
exercise and is considered by rehabilitation practitioners to be
a vital component, reducing risks of specific diseases progressing
e.g. coronary heart disease. Exercise training has multiple benefits,
which will be discussed later in this text.
It should be borne
in mind that where specific damage to organs has taken place
LTE will not and can not repair that damage, plus the onset of
aging needs consideration as it reduces the ability of the individual
to be able to perform exercise and limits adaptations the body
can make. LTE provides protection by mediating the effects of
disease and causing beneficial adaptations within the body and
slowing down or limiting the effects of aging.
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| Chronic Heart Failure - CHF |
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The heart does not completely fail but it its ability
to pump blood to other organs is compromised and patients experience
fatigue and can’t exercise without discomfort. It must be accepted
that the damage to the heart will not be corrected by exercise
and in the past, patients with CHF were counselled to avoid exercise
and rest, as exercise was considered unsafe, inappropriate and
thought to have detrimental effects. |
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That concept has changed radically and it’s now
recognised that there’s much to gain with little risk. |
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| The Benefits Derived
From Exercise in CHF: |
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Functional improvements - increased walking speed,
reduced shortness of breath & fatigue |
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Exercise tolerance increases – improved endurance & more
energy |
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Physiological improvement – improved ability to use oxygen
within the muscles, reduces adrenaline (inappropriately raised
in people with CHF)and improves tone and lining of blood vessels |
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Improved lipid profiles and reduces risk of diabetes |
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Ameliorates osteoporosis and decreased mobility of aging |
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Quality of life – exercise produces significant lasting changes,
enabling some patients to return to work or be free of symptoms
during activity and have minimal impairment in daily life |
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| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
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 Similarly to the changes associated with CHF, exercising
with this disease will not repair damaged lungs, prevent inflammation
causing increased secretions or coughing and shortness of breath.
The severity of COPD will determine the effects upon the individual.
For those with mild COPD the effects may be negligible but for
those with advanced disease the effects can be profound.
In rehabilitation,
specific exercises making up an exercise regime are produced to
match the patient’s ability and great care and attention are given
to ensure that they suit the needs of the individual.
Advice should
be sought by anybody wanting to perform formal exercises, who haven’t
followed a rehabilitation programme first, but wishing to embark
on an LTE programme.
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| Benefits of exercise |
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Improved conditioning, endurance and strength |
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Increased flexibility, better posture and leaner body composition |
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Better balance |
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Improved maximal oxygen consumption and its use by muscles
• Improved efficiency of ventilation |
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Reduction in waste products resulting from exercise (lactates) • |
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Reduced sensitivity to shortness of breath |
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Improved body image and overall sense of wellbeing |
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Improved socialisation |
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| Aging |
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 Aging present’s challenges to health care systems
throughout the world centred on physical frailty and decreased
abilities. Issues attributed to aging are chronic illness, physiological
aging, medications & lifestyle. Most people with chronic diseases
take medication to treat medical problems and medications have
side effects, some of which can improve performance whilst others
reduce it.
It is important that an exercise management plan includes
consideration of medication-induced changes in performance. Little
is known about the effects of most medications on adaptations to
exercise training but medications must be considered in an exercise
management plan.
Performing appropriate exercise produces numerous
changes that counteract the effects of the typical aging process. |
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Exercise is the single most effective way
to preserve or even improve function in old age and if put in
a bottle it would be the strongest medicine money could buy! |
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Ultimately, regardless of age or level of frailty,
nearly all elderly persons can derive some physiological, functional
or quality of life benefit from initiating an exercise programme.
With older clients their goals relating to improvement can include
working harder, if they want to do so, but over a more gradual
timescale and with care.
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| Benefits of Exercise |
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There is a need to transform belief that exercise
is unimportant. Many older people have been sedentary for most
of their adult life and see exercise participation as a low priority
for leisure time. For many individuals that exercise alone, there
is initially poor adherence to an exercise programme and > 50%
drop out within six months. |
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The most successful way to promote compliance regarding
regular performance of exercise is to receive ongoing supervision,
with individual’s efforts being monitored. |
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There is a need to set goals, which can readily be
achievable from exercise performance, to maximise abilities and
involve social integration. Exercise has the potential to mitigate
two of the most dominant physiological aspects of aging, which
are loss of exercise capacity and muscle strength. |
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| The Following Benefits
Could be Expected: |
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Improve overall exercise capacity, increase muscle
strength and attenuate loss of muscle mass due to increasing
age. |
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It can also improve balance and flexibility, thereby increasing
confidence. |
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Increase endurance with improved day to day functional activities |
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Ameliorates osteoporosis and decreased mobility of aging |
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This section has four pages. Use navigation strip to access other pages.
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Peter Scott - Team Leader
