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Physical conditioning applied to cardiovascular diseases

Bearing in mind the relevance of cardiovascular disease prevention, this article aims at the discussion of some relative aspects of primary and secondary cardiac prevention based on a specific physical conditioning program. The practice of regular physical activity is used both for prevention and for rehabilitation of cardiovascular diseases. A good physical conditioning program produces chronic physiological changes in the cardiovascular and neurovegetative systems, and on hormonal secretions, providing for expressive changes in the prevention, estabilization, and even regression of cardiopathic degeneration conditions. Supervision of the patient during a physical conditioning session is essential, as the incidence of cardiovascular complications is higher in these patients than in apparently healthy adults; this is a way of safeguarding the safety and quality of the program. An important aspect is the need to customize exercise prescription, both in primary prevention and in the three secondary prevention phases. This prescription should respect the principles of physical training and the basic components of the program: frequency and duration, which are absolute values, and intensity, which is the critical factor, as prescriptions involve factors such as sex, age, and physical fitness differences


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