Conclusions : Currently , there is insufficient evidence about the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise compared to isolated aerobic exercise or usual care on walking performance .
However , despite the low quality of evidence , the combined aerobic and resistance exercise seems to be an effective strategy to improve walking performance in patients with intermittent claudication .
These combined exercise modes or isolated aerobic exercise produce positive and significant results on walking performance .
The usual care approach has a trend to deteriorate the walking performance .
Background : The short-term benefits of aerobic and resistance exercise in subjects affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease ( PAD ) are scarcely examined in interaction .
This study aim ed to identify the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise programs on walking performance compared with isolated aerobic exercise or with the usual care in patients with intermittent claudication .
Effects of exercise training on calf muscle oxygen extraction and blood flow in patients with peripheral artery disease.
We employed near-infrared optical techniques , diffuse correlation spectroscopy ( DCS ) , and frequency-domain near-infrared spectroscopy ( FD-NIRS ) to test the hypothesis that supervised exercise training increases skeletal muscle microvascular blood flow and oxygen extraction in patients with peripheral artery disease ( PAD ) who experience claudication . PAD patients ( n = 64 ) were r and omly assigned to exercise and control groups . Patients in the exercise group received 3 mo of supervised exercise training .  Calf muscle blood flow and oxygen extraction were optically monitored before , during , and after performance of a grade d treadmill protocol at baseline and at 3 mo in both groups . Additionally , measurements of the ankle-brachial index ( ABI ) and peak walking time ( PWT ) to maximal claudication were made during each patient visit . Supervised exercise training was found to increase the maximal calf muscle blood flow and oxygen extraction levels during treadmill exercise by 29 % ( 13 % , 50 % ) and 8 % ( 1 % , 12 % ) , respectively [ P < 0.001 ; median ( 25th percentile , 75th percentile ) ] . These improvements across the exercise group population were significantly higher than corresponding changes in the control group ( P < 0.004 ) . Exercise training also increased PWT by 49 % ( 18 % , 101 % ) ( P = 0.01 ) . However , within statistical error , the ABI , resting calf muscle blood flow and oxygen extraction , and the recovery half-time for hemoglobin\myoglobin desaturation following cessation of maximal exercise were not altered by exercise training . The concurrent monitoring of both blood flow and oxygen extraction with the hybrid DCS/FD-NIRS instrument revealed enhanced muscle oxidative metabolism during physical activity from exercise training , which could be an underlying mechanism for the observed improvement in PWT . NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report on noninvasive optical measurements of skeletal muscle blood flow and oxygen extraction dynamics before/during/after treadmill exercise in peripheral artery disease patients who experience claudication . The measurements tracked the effects of a 3-mo supervised exercise training protocol and revealed that supervised exercise training improved patient ability to increase microvascular calf muscle blood flow and oxygen extraction during physical activity
Conclusions : Currently , there is insufficient evidence about the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise compared to isolated aerobic exercise or usual care on walking performance .
However , despite the low quality of evidence , the combined aerobic and resistance exercise seems to be an effective strategy to improve walking performance in patients with intermittent claudication .
These combined exercise modes or isolated aerobic exercise produce positive and significant results on walking performance .
The usual care approach has a trend to deteriorate the walking performance .
Background : The short-term benefits of aerobic and resistance exercise in subjects affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease ( PAD ) are scarcely examined in interaction .
This study aim ed to identify the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise programs on walking performance compared with isolated aerobic exercise or with the usual care in patients with intermittent claudication .