Resistance Exercise in Individuals With and Without Cardiovascular Disease
Benefits, Rationale, Safety, and Prescription An Advisory From the Committee on Exercise, Rehabilitation, and Prevention, Council on Clinical Cardiology, American Heart Association
Jump to
- Article
- Health and Fitness Benefits of Resistance Training
- Rationale for Resistance Training
- Complementary Role of Stretching
- Physiological Considerations
- Safety of Resistance Training
- Participation Criteria and Preliminary Instruction
- Exercise Prescription for Resistance Training
- Prescription for Patients Without Cardiovascular Disease
- Prescription for Patients With Cardiovascular Disease
- Summary of Key Points
- Footnotes
- References
- Figures & Tables
- Info & Metrics
- eLetters

Position paper endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine
Although exercise programs have traditionally emphasized dynamic lower-extremity exercise, research increasingly suggests that complementary resistance training, when appropriately prescribed and supervised, has favorable effects on muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular function, metabolism, coronary risk factors, and psychosocial well-being. This advisory reviews the role of resistance training in persons with and without cardiovascular disease, with specific reference to health and fitness benefits, rationale, the complementary role of stretching, relevant physiological considerations, and safety. Participation criteria and prescriptive guidelines are also provided.
Health and Fitness Benefits of Resistance Training
Although resistance training has long been accepted as a means for developing and maintaining muscular strength, endurance, power, and muscle mass (hypertrophy),1 2 its beneficial relationship to health factors and chronic disease has been recognized only recently.3 4 5 Prior to 1990, resistance training was not a part of the recommended guidelines for exercise training and rehabilitation for either the American Heart Association or the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). In 1990, the ACSM first recognized resistance training as a significant component of a comprehensive fitness program for healthy adults of all ages.6
Both aerobic endurance exercise and resistance training can promote substantial benefits in physical fitness and health-related factors.3 5 Table 1⇓ summarizes these benefits and attempts to weigh them according to the current literature.3 Although both training modalities elicit benefits in most of the variables listed, the estimated weightings (ie, in terms of physiological benefits) are often substantially different. Aerobic endurance training weighs higher in the development of maximum oxygen uptake (V̇o2max) and associated cardiopulmonary variables, and it more effectively modifies cardiovascular risk factors associated with the development of coronary artery disease. Resistance training offers greater development of muscular strength, endurance, and mass. It also assists in the …
This Issue
Jump to
- Article
- Health and Fitness Benefits of Resistance Training
- Rationale for Resistance Training
- Complementary Role of Stretching
- Physiological Considerations
- Safety of Resistance Training
- Participation Criteria and Preliminary Instruction
- Exercise Prescription for Resistance Training
- Prescription for Patients Without Cardiovascular Disease
- Prescription for Patients With Cardiovascular Disease
- Summary of Key Points
- Footnotes
- References
- Figures & Tables
- Info & Metrics
- eLetters
Article Tools
- Resistance Exercise in Individuals With and Without Cardiovascular DiseaseMichael L. Pollock, Barry A. Franklin, Gary J. Balady, Bernard L. Chaitman, Jerome L. Fleg, Barbara Fletcher, Marian Limacher, Ileana L. Piña, Richard A. Stein, Mark Williams and Terry BazzarreCirculation. 2000;101:828-833, originally published February 22, 2000http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.101.7.828
Citation Manager Formats
Share this Article
- Resistance Exercise in Individuals With and Without Cardiovascular DiseaseMichael L. Pollock, Barry A. Franklin, Gary J. Balady, Bernard L. Chaitman, Jerome L. Fleg, Barbara Fletcher, Marian Limacher, Ileana L. Piña, Richard A. Stein, Mark Williams and Terry BazzarreCirculation. 2000;101:828-833, originally published February 22, 2000http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.101.7.828
Related Articles
- No related articles found.
Cited By...
- The blood pressure-lowering effect of a single bout of resistance exercise: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Original Research: Central and peripheral quadriceps fatigue in young and middle-aged untrained and endurance-trained men: A comparative study
- Effects of Resistance Training With and Without Caloric Restriction on Arterial Stiffness in Overweight and Obese Older Adults
- Impact of training methods and patient characteristics on exercise capacity in patients in cardiovascular rehabilitation
- Positive effect of combined exercise training in a model of metabolic syndrome and menopause: autonomic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress evaluations
- The D allele of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene is associated with greater hemodynamic response to resistance exercises
- High-Intensity Interval Exercise and Cerebrovascular Health: Curiosity, Cause, and Consequence
- Exercise and Cardiovascular Risk in Patients With Hypertension
- Two-Year Exercise Program Improves Physical Function in Parkinson's Disease: The PRET-PD Randomized Clinical Trial
- Moving Beyond Cardio: The Value of Resistance Training, Balance Training, and Other Forms of Exercise in the Management of Diabetes
- 2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- 2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- A comparison of the acute haemodynamic response to aerobic and resistance exercise in subjects with exercise-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension
- 2012 ACCF/AHA Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACCF/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- 2012 ACCF/AHA Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACCF/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults
- Importance of characteristics and modalities of physical activity and exercise in the management of cardiovascular health in individuals with cardiovascular disease (Part III)
- Importance of characteristics and modalities of physical activity and exercise in defining the benefits to cardiovascular health within the general population: recommendations from the EACPR (Part I)
- Effects of home-based exercise training for patients with chronic heart failure and sleep apnoea: a randomized comparison of two different programmes
- Resistance exercise in cardiac rehabilitation
- 2011 ACCF/AHA Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACC/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- 2011 ACCF/AHA Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACC/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
- Resistance and aerobic exercise protects against acute endothelial impairment induced by a single exposure to hypertension during exertion
- Associations of muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness with total and central body fat in adolescents: The HELENA Study
- Metabolic benefits of resistance training and fast glycolytic skeletal muscle
- Secondary prevention through cardiac rehabilitation: physical activity counselling and exercise training: Key components of the position paper from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation
- Urinary Creatinine Excretion Rate and Mortality in Persons With Coronary Artery Disease: The Heart and Soul Study
- Newly Reported Hypertension After Military Combat Deployment in a Large Population-Based Study
- Effects of exercise training in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
- Cardiac rehabilitation - Past to Present
- Sport Therapy for Hypertension: Why, How, and How Much?
- Effects of Different Types of Exercise Training Followed by Detraining on Endothelium-Dependent Dilation in Patients With Recent Myocardial Infarction
- Physical activity and maintaining physical function in older adults
- Successful Aging: The Role of Physical Activity
- Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study
- Exercise for Primary Care
- The effects of strength training on central arterial compliance in middle-aged and older adults
- Group-based Aerobic Interval Training in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure: Norwegian Ullevaal Model
- Rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease and physical exercise: a systematic review
- Remodeling of ryanodine receptor complex causes "leaky" channels: A molecular mechanism for decreased exercise capacity
- High eccentric strength training reduces heart rate variability in healthy older men
- Combined aerobic and resistance training and vascular function: effect of aerobic exercise before and after resistance training
- Heart rate recovery and heart rate complexity following resistance exercise training and detraining in young men
- Progressive Resistance Training Without Volume Increases Does Not Alter Arterial Stiffness and Aortic Wave Reflection
- The Effect of Resistance Training on Functional Capacity and Quality of Life in Individuals with High and Low Numbers of Metabolic Risk Factors
- Relationship Between Arterial Stiffness and Athletic Training Programs in Young Adult Men
- ACC/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction--Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 2002 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Developed in Collaboration with the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Society of Thoracic SurgeonsEndorsed by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
- ACC/AHA 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 2002 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Developed in Collaboration with the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Endorsed by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
- Resistance Exercise in Individuals With and Without Cardiovascular Disease: 2007 Update: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology and Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism
- Fat metabolism and acute resistance exercise in trained men
- Nutrition, physical activity, and cardiovascular disease: An update
- Resistance training increases basal limb blood flow and vascular conductance in aging humans
- Effects of leg resistance training on arterial function in older men
- Exercise effects on cardiac size and left ventricular diastolic function: relationships to changes in fitness, fatness, blood pressure and insulin resistance
- Resistance Exercise Training: Its Role in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
- Physiological alterations to detraining following prolonged combined strength and aerobic training in cardiac patients
- ACC/AHA 2005 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease (Lower Extremity, Renal, Mesenteric, and Abdominal Aortic): A Collaborative Report from the American Association for Vascular Surgery/Society for Vascular Surgery,Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology, Society of Interventional Radiology, and the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Develop Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease)
- Cardiac autonomic modulation during recovery from acute endurance versus resistance exercise
- Diagnosis and Management of the Metabolic Syndrome: An American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Scientific Statement
- Exercise Prescription and Proscription for Patients With Coronary Artery Disease
- Lack of age-related decreases in basal whole leg blood flow in resistance-trained men
- Effects of High Intensity Resistance Training on Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Women
- Physical Fitness, Body Composition, Blood Pressure, and Blood Metabolic Profile among Young Guatemalan Adults
- Strength Training in Diabetes Management
- Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease: An American Heart Association Scientific Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology (Subcommittee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention) and the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism (Subcommittee on Physical Activity), in Collaboration With the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
- Effects of exercise and diet on chronic disease
- Influence of lifestyle modification on arterial stiffness and wave reflections
- Unfavorable Effects of Resistance Training on Central Arterial Compliance: A Randomized Intervention Study
- Combined endurance/resistance training reduces NT-proBNP levels in patients with chronic heart failure
- Recommendations for resistance exercise in cardiac rehabilitation. Recommendations of the German Federation for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation
- Exercise training: can it improve cardiovascular health in patients with type 2 diabetes?
- Physical Activity and Exercise Recommendations for Stroke Survivors: An American Heart Association Scientific Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Subcommittee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention; the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; and the Stroke Council
- Physical Activity and Exercise Recommendations for Stroke Survivors: An American Heart Association Scientific Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Subcommittee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention; the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; and the Stroke Council
- Exercise and Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: A Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology (Subcommittee on Exercise, Rehabilitation, and Prevention) and the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism (Subcommittee on Physical Activity)
- Exercise and Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: A Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology (Subcommittee on Exercise, Rehabilitation, and Prevention) and the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism (Subcommittee on Physical Activity)
- Exercise and Heart Failure: A Statement From the American Heart Association Committee on Exercise, Rehabilitation, and Prevention
- Greater Age-Related Reductions in Central Arterial Compliance in Resistance-Trained Men
- High-Intensity Resistance Training Improves Glycemic Control in Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
- AHA Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke: 2002 Update: Consensus Panel Guide to Comprehensive Risk Reduction for Adult Patients Without Coronary or Other Atherosclerotic Vascular Diseases
- Effect of aerobic and resistance exercise on central hemodynamic responses in severe chronic heart failure
- Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in the Elderly (With Emphasis on Patients >=75 Years of Age): An American Heart Association Scientific Statement From the Council on Clinical Cardiology Subcommittee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention
- Exercise Standards for Testing and Training: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association
This article has not yet been cited by articles in journals that are participating in Crossref Cited-by Linking.








