Fig 1.
CPET: cardiopulmonary exercise test; HCT: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Table 1.
Participant characteristics (N = 13).
Fig 2.
Sample high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session heart rate graph.
The graphs above show two HIIT sessions from two participants. The dark gray dotted lines represent the target HR zone for the high-intensity intervals (80–90% of HRR) and the light gray dotted lines represent the target HR zone for the low-intensity intervals (50–60% HRR). Each spike in HR represents an interval that was completed during the 30-minute HIIT session. Numbers above the intervals indicate maximum HR reached during the interval. Graphs 1 and 2 are from Participant A (age: 66 years; VO2peak: 10.6 mL/kg/min) during the first and third weeks of the program. During the first session (Graph 1), the participant overexerted himself, exceeding the prescribed target HR zones, and struggled to lower HR to the low-intensity HR prescription. After the first three intervals, the participant was not able to continue with the HIIT session. Graph 2 demonstrates a HIIT session from the same participant during week 3. With feedback, coaching, and consistent weekly training, adherence to the prescribed session duration, interval number, and intensities improved with the participant completing eight intervals in the session, with most meeting the target HR zones. Graphs 3 and 4 represent HIIT sessions from week 1 and week 4 from a more fit participant (Participant B; age: 45 years; VO2peak: 18.1 mL/kg/min). Although the participant was able to complete the 30-second session and intervals during week 1, the week 4 session shows improved adherence to the prescribed intervals and exercise intensities.
Fig 3.
Adherence rate (% of prescribed sessions) for each participant enrolled in the study.
Table 2.
Adherence to training sessions and prescribed intensity (n = 9).
Table 3.
Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and physical function.
Fig 4.
Change in cardiorespiratory fitness and physical function measures for individual participants from baseline to sign-off.
Each line represents an individual participant. Participants who adhered to the intervention protocol are presented in solid black lines. Participants who did not adhere to the intervention are presented in dashed gray lines. The r value and p value represent the correlation and its significance, respectively, between intervention length and outcomes for participants who adhered to the intervention.