PURPOSE: The study compared the effect of a 12-week progressive, low intensity home exercise program for men on functional capacity and cardiovascular responses, initiated 1 week after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with a standard protocol. METHODS: Twelve men recovering from uncomplicated CABG surgery were assigned randomly to either the low intensity home exercise group (EG, n = 6) or the standard treatment comparison group (CG, n = 6). Subjects in the EG were advised to begin walking a quarter mile daily, and to increase daily distance every 2 weeks to a maximum of 2 miles daily by the end of 3 months. They were instructed not to exceed a heart rate (HR) of 15 beats per minute above resting HR. CG subjects were advised to begin walking half mile daily at a moderate pace, and increase daily distance every week to a maximum of 3 miles daily by the end of 3 months. Subjects were exercise tested at discharge, and at 6 to 12 weeks post-discharge. RESULTS: Subjects on low intensity protocol achieved improvements in functional capacity and cardiovascular responses comparable to the comparison group subjects. The magnitude of the increases in functional capacity, were greater than previously reported spontaneous improvements of 19% to 40% after 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: The groups differed in their pattern of improvement, but these data trends did not reach significance. However, at 6 weeks, the EG increased functional capacity by 2.1 METs, whereas the CG only increased by 1.4 METs. Furthermore, the CG required 12 weeks to increase capacity by 1.9 METs.
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