Short-term effects of cycle and treadmill training on exercise tolerance in peripheral arterial disease.

Background: To explore the efficacy of cycle training in the treatment of intermittent claudication, the present study compared performance and physiologic effects of cycle training with more conventional treadmill walking training in a group of patients with claudication.

Method: Forty-two individuals with peripheral arterial disease and intermittent claudication (24 men, 18 women) were stratified by gender and the presence or absence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and then randomized to a treadmill (n = 13), cycle (n = 15), or control group (n = 14). Treadmill and cycle groups trained three times a week for 6 weeks, whereas the control group did not train during this period.