Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Exercise With Cardiomyopathy

Maintaining an exercise regimen can be hard, but doing it with an impairment such as cardiomyopathy makes working out that much harder. Luckily though, there are ways to still exercise even with this cardiovascular disease. Cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder that affects the heart muscles causing them to clog and affects 1:500 of the population. Though cardiomyopathy may affect everyday living, doing cardio, resistance, and flexibility training is still possible. Many studies have been done in order to find the most appropriate way to exercise when dealing with cardiomyopathy. Those who suffer from this disease usually have a decreased tolerance to exercise and, in most cases, cannot be done when strenuous. Through some research and experiments, it was found that resistance training and flexibility training were the most beneficial to people with these conditions, although cardio training was also possible. A resistance training example following Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type (FITT) recommendations: F: 3-5 days/week, I: 6-8 on RPE scale; 10-12 repetitions, T: 20-40 minutes, T: Body weight exercises: squats, lunges, curls. hose with cardiomyopathy go through many hardships, and with exercise, it can make living with cardiomyopathy a little bit easier. Through exercise, it allows for the blood to flow a little smoother within the body and overall improve quality of life. More specifically, resistance training with higher amounts of reps with little to no weights proved to be the most effective. Keeping exercises at a moderate level tends to be the most beneficial.