Research

Mixed

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is relatively safe for patients with coronary artery disease or heart failure when administered within supervised cardiac rehabilitation settings, with a major adverse cardiovascular event rate of 1 per 17,083 training sessions.

If you have stable heart disease or heart failure, high-intensity interval training is likely safe when done in a supervised cardiac rehab program. The risk of a serious heart event is extremely low (about 1 in 17,000 sessions). Do not attempt this unsupervised; ensure your condition is stable and you are monitored by cardiac staff.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
HIIT has shown a relatively low rate of major adverse cardiovascular events for patients with coronary artery disease or heart failure when applied within CR settings.
Michael A. Wewege et al. · Journal of the American Heart Association · 2018

Why this rating

Systematic review of 23 studies with 1,117 participants; high-quality evidence for safety profile, though generalizability is limited to stable, supervised populations.

Source

High‐Intensity Interval Training for Patients With Cardiovascular Disease—Is It Safe? A Systematic Review

Michael A. Wewege et al. · Journal of the American Heart Association · 2018

DOI 10.1161/jaha.118.009305

Meta-analysis · 23 studiesCited 209×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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