Effect Of A Periodized Resistance Training Protocol On Cardiac Work In Breast Cancer Women

: Chemotherapy is among the main treatments for breast cancer (BC). Unfortunately, one of the side effects of some of its components is cardiotoxicity. On the other hand, regular exercise has been shown to improve cancer patients' general and cardiovascular health. However, considering cardiovascular health, most health professionals still recommend mainly or only aerobic exercise (AER). Unfortunately, during AER, the lower afterload, higher heart rate, and cardiac wall distension increase the demand on the myocardium. Therefore, resistance exercise (RE), due to its safety, has been seen as a useful tool in the rehabilitation of most cardiovascular complications. In this sense, the double product (DP) is a widely used measurement in cardiology to estimate cardiac workload and is also a relevant metric for cancer patients. PURPOSE: Therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyze the effect of 36 weeks of periodized RE on the DP in the rest of the women with BC. METHODS: 25 women (51.4 ± 8.5 years) diagnosed with BC were selected. All participants performed the periodized RE protocol, with their blood pressure and heart rate assessed at rest before and after 12, 24, and 36 weeks of training. RESULTS: The main results were that resting DP showed a significant reduction after the first 24 weeks of RE, and this was even more pronounced after the 36th week. We also noted that when analyzing the hypertensive patients (N = 8) and non-hypertensive patients (N = 17) separately, respectively the first one showed a significant reduction after the first 24 weeks, while the others only showed a significant decrease after the 36th week. CONCLUSION: Thus, the periodized RE resulted in a substantial reduction in the cardiovascular overload of the patients, which was significant after the first 24 weeks but proved to be even more effective after 36 weeks of RE.