Dr Guiraud is Director of the Cardiocéan Clinic in La Rochelle. Previously, he was Deputy Director of the Saint-Orens Clinic near Toulouse, a continuing care and rehabilitation centre specialising in cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation.
WHAT DOES CARDIOVASCULAR REHABILITATION DO? In France, cardiovascular disease kills one out of three people. Following an acute cardiac event (infarction, cardiac decompensation, etc.), it is recommended that you continue your rehabilitation at a suitable facility because it has been demonstrated that a rehabilitation program reduces the risk of relapse by 20% and the chance of mortality by 25%. The program consists of optimising medication, prescribing an appropriate physical exercise plan, educating the patient about healthy lifestyles (eating better, movements and controlling risk factors) and socioprofessional reintegration.
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF HUBER® TECHNOLOGY IN REHABILITATION? HUBER® technology has all the qualities needed in a rehabilitation program, including balance work, coordination work, endurance training and improvement of body composition. In addition to these undeniable performance benefits, HUBER® is fun, which can help address the problem of low adherence to physical activity. In other words, we believe that HUBER® can motivate patients to engage in physical activity.
WHY DID YOU DO A STUDY WITH HUBER®? The impact and benefits of the HUBER® system have never been evaluated in patients with a chronic disease like coronary heart disease. That’s why we and the medical team in the cardiology department (Dr Bousquet and Dr Richard) decided to conduct a study in partnership with LPG Systems, with the title: “Study of the safety of the Huber technique in symptomatic populations and evaluation of its effectiveness on cardiovascular health in a cardiac rehabilitation program”. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Toulouse University Hospital and the Dijon University Hospital.
WHAT WAS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY? The objective of the study was to evaluate the cardiovascular and pulmonary responses of cardiac patients (post-acute coronary syndrome) during a session on HUBER® (phase 1) and to validate whether its repeated use combined with other rehabilitation exercises has a positive impact on cardiovascular health (phase 2).
WHAT WERE THE RESULTS? For exercises equivalent to 70% of the maximum voluntary contraction, HUBER® allows patients to work at approximately 35% VO2 max (moderate walking) combined with very good respiratory comfort. In addition, there were no complaints of muscle pain, despite being treated with statins, and no heart rhythm disturbances or blood pressure increases were observed. The cardiovascular, pulmonary and muscular safety of the exercise sessions on the HUBER® device has therefore been demonstrated in coronary heart patients(1).
Secondly, we compared two groups of patients who followed a comprehensive program, supervised by a physiotherapist, either on HUBER® or using conventional muscle building using devices at the same intensity. The superiority of HUBER® was observed in improved body composition (significant decrease in body fat and waist circumference) and physical fitness. In addition, HUBER® seems as effective as traditional strength training exercises on strength gain and quality of life(2).
THE CONCLUSION? EXERCISING ON HUBER® IS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND ITS ALL-IN-ONE CHARACTER MAKES IT BENEFICIAL FOR CHRONIC DISEASE REHABILITATION
SOURCES:
1. Whole-Body Strength Training Using a Huber Motion Lab in Coronary Heart Disease Patients: Safety, Tolerance, Fuel Selection, and Energy Expenditure Aspects and Optimization. Guiraud T. et al. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 May; 94(5): 385-94. 2. Whole-body strength training with Huber Motion Lab and traditional strength training in cardiac rehabilitation: A randomized controlled study. Guiraud T. et al. Ann Phys Rehabil Med. 2017 Jan; 60(1): 20-26.
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