Prescribing and adjusting exercise training in chronic respiratory diseases-Expert-based practical recommendations

Background: International guidelines recommend endurance (ET) and strength training (ST) in patients with chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), but only provide rough guidance on how to set the initial training load. This may unintentionally lead to practice variation and inadequate training load adjustments. This study aimed to develop practical recommendations on tailoring ET and ST based on practices from international experts from the field of exercise training in CRDs. Methods: 35 experts were invited to address a 64-item online survey about how they prescribe and adjust exercise training. Results: Cycling (97%) and walking (86%) were the most commonly implemented ET modali-ties. Continuous endurance training (CET, 83%) and interval endurance training (IET, 86%) were the frequently applied ET types. Criteria to prescribe IET instead of CET were: patients do not tolerate CET due to dyspnoea at the initial training session (79%), intense