Peripheral Arterial Disease and Exercise

British Columbia Specific Information

Regular physical activity can benefit the health of your heart and blood vessels. For example, it can improve levels of blood lipids (such as raising HDL or “good” cholesterol) and reduce blood pressure. Despite the benefits, people who are regularly active and athletes may still be at risk of developing heart diseases and blood circulation conditions. Learning about the risk factors for these and getting regular check-ups may reduce your risk. 

For information on physical activity and heart diseases and blood circulation conditions, visit Heart health and Active For Health: Persons with cardiovascular conditions on our website. If you would like guidance on being active for general health or with a health condition, call our qualified exercise professionals by dialing 8-1-1 and asking to speak with Physical Activity Services between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Pacific Time Monday to Friday. You can also leave a message outside of these hours and email a qualified exercise professional.

Overview

Specialized exercise programs may help relieve leg pain that occurs with exercise (intermittent claudication) in some people who have PAD. If you have trouble walking because of your symptoms, this type of program may help you walk more easily. footnote 1

Your doctor may recommend a supervised exercise program. You'll work with a therapist at a facility such as a rehab centre. In the sessions, you'll walk until the pain starts, then rest until it goes away before continuing. Your therapist may ask you to try to walk a little farther each day before resting. Don't try to walk through the pain. The goal is to increase the amount of time you can exercise before the pain starts.

You may start a similar walking program at home (with your doctor's approval). You'll get instructions and guidance from a health care professional, but the program isn't supervised. This is called a structured home-based exercise program.

References

Citations

  1. Gerhard-Herman MD, et al. (2016). 2016 AHA/ACC guideline on the management of patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease. Circulation, published online November 13, 2016. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000471. Accessed November 25, 2016.

Credits

Adaptation Date: 6/13/2023

Adapted By: HealthLink BC

Adaptation Reviewed By: HealthLink BC