Effects of a Walking Program and Inspiratory Muscle Training in Individuals With Chronic Heart Failure

"The IMT intensity was set at 60% of PImax which was reassessed weekly. Frequency: 5x/week; 1x/day preferred. 6 Interval Levels: (6 efforts at each level): (1) 60s rest interval; (2) 45s rest interval; (3) 30s rest interval; (4) 15s rest interval; (5)10s rest interval; (6) 5s rest interval, trained to exhaustion.~For the walking program, it was the same as the one for the control group."

"The IMT training was 3 sets of 10 repetitions, or when the participant felt tired. Participants returned to our facility every week to reassess PImax.~For the walking program, each participant was given a pedometer and a heart rate monitor to track daily step counts and heart rate. The walking program consisted of walking every day at an intensity of somewhat hard to hard on the Borg's Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. Participants began at least 10 to 15 minutes, once to twice a day, for 7 days a week, and eventually progressed to 45-50 minutes a day by the end of the six weeks, if they could tolerate."