Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
A new study which suggests no-pain = no-gain:
But there have been other studies which suggested (weakly, IIRC) that total daily step count is the thing, regardless of intensity, and this study doesn't seem to really address that question.
Other points:
- The improvement at 12 months in 6 minute walking distance for the high intensity group averaged around 10%. Given that "high intensity" = walking until your calf goes ischemic ie cramps up and hurts like hell, it's a pretty modest gain for a fair amount of pain. Not hard to see why adherence is a problem for PAD exercise programs.
(My left femoral artery is a complete disaster with multiple blocks so in that respect I'm about as bad as can be, but my 6 min walking distance is much higher than that and it more than doubled with constant walking. So how do I get to be so fortunate? Probably because I develop collateral vessels comparatively easily, I guess. Nobody seems to have a clear idea why this differs between individuals, but to me it seems that any method for improving it could be a huge therapy win. I don't know whether my collateral development has been accelerated most by walking until ischemia, or simply just a lot of walking ...)
But there have been other studies which suggested (weakly, IIRC) that total daily step count is the thing, regardless of intensity, and this study doesn't seem to really address that question.
Other points:
- The improvement at 12 months in 6 minute walking distance for the high intensity group averaged around 10%. Given that "high intensity" = walking until your calf goes ischemic ie cramps up and hurts like hell, it's a pretty modest gain for a fair amount of pain. Not hard to see why adherence is a problem for PAD exercise programs.
(My left femoral artery is a complete disaster with multiple blocks so in that respect I'm about as bad as can be, but my 6 min walking distance is much higher than that and it more than doubled with constant walking. So how do I get to be so fortunate? Probably because I develop collateral vessels comparatively easily, I guess. Nobody seems to have a clear idea why this differs between individuals, but to me it seems that any method for improving it could be a huge therapy win. I don't know whether my collateral development has been accelerated most by walking until ischemia, or simply just a lot of walking ...)
