Hospital Versus Home Based Exercise in Patients With Chronic Stable Heart Failure

"Participants in the home-based group will be advised to exercise, a minimum of 3 times per week, but will be encouraged to exercise a total of 5-7 days per week as per CACR and ACSM guidelines. Prescriptions will include the same elements of those for the hospital group:~* 5-10 min warm-up~* 30 min aerobic interval training (walking or stationary bicycle)~* 10 min cool-down~Home-based participants will be asked to record their exercise in an exercise log book and will receive bi-weekly telephone calls from exercise personnel to monitor progress, assess and document adherence, revise the exercise prescription if necessary and provide support and education. Patient safety will be monitored during each call and serious health concerns will be relayed, with the patient's permission, to their primary health provider. Patients in this group will be encouraged to call the exercise specialist or kinesiologist with concerns or questions throughout the study."

"Patients in the hospital-based group will participate in supervised, on-site, group exercise sessions 3 times per week, but will be encouraged to exercise a total of 5-7 days per week as per CACR and ACSM guidelines. Trained exercise personnel (kinesiologists and exercise specialists) will supervise these sessions. Exercise sessions will include:~* 5-10 min of warm-up~* 30 min of aerobic interval training using stationary cycles, treadmills and arm ergometers~* 10 min of cool down~Exercise will be tracked by the participant in exercise log books."