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Effects of exercise training on the condition
Can exercise training improve the symptoms?
According to Belman, (1993), exercise has been widely promoted as a way in which individuals can improve their physical endurance. It has been recommended for people who are healthy but also for those with various diseases and disabilities. Mador, Krauza, & Shaffer, (2012) states that exercise training in individuals who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be challenging having that the whole-body elicits disabling symptoms which have links to dyspnea before muscles reach their limits. Moreover, Spruit, Burtin, De Boever, Langer, Vogiatzis, Wouters, & Franssen, (2016) observes that exercise training is key for people seeking to recover through pulmonary rehabilitation because they suffer from COPD. Exercise training has proved to be the paramount existing method for achieving improvement in exercise tolerance and muscle function in people suffering from COPD. Exercise training when utilized as prescribed can make significant difference in lives of patients suffering from COPD. Regular exercises by patients suffering from COPD helps in improving the breath shortness while at the same time improve other symptoms related to the disease. The critical aspect in exercise training to improve symptoms is learning the correct and safe ways to exercise with the condition.
One of the factors that limit people from adopting exercise as a way to improve the COPD symptoms is breathing difficulties. However, patients who are inactive reduce their shortness of breath and they find themselves fatigued. Patients finding themselves in such a scenario risks muscle mass and a decline in their cardiovascular function. While exercise training cannot reverse the damages caused to the lungs, they can help in improving the strength of the respiratory muscles and physical endurance (Mador et al. 2012). Some of the ideal exercises that patients with COPD can engage in include jogging, walking, swimming, jumping rope and bicycling. Dourado, Tanni, Antunes, Paiva, Campana, Renno, & Godoy, (2009) note that exercises that have significant impact on the symptoms of COPD are those that are of low-intensity. In other words, they are easy to implement because COPD patients can tolerate them including those who have severe form of the disorder. In their study review, Emtner, & Wadell, (2016) found out that COPD patients who engaged in exercise training achieved an improvement of their quality of life, decreased anxiety, dyspnea, and depression. At the same time, their physical capacity increased and the rate of mortality decreased (Emtner, & Wadell, 2016).
Can exercise training improve the recovery process or slow down the progression of the disease?
According to Kirsten, Taube, Lehnigk, Jörres, & Magnussen, (1998) exercise training has the ability of improving recovery in patients who have COPD. Short-term exercising training programmes can achieve efficiency and effectiveness during recovery of patients who have severe COPD and had acute exacerbation. Thus, long-term training can have long-lasting positive effects on patients with COPD in moderate degree and stable condition of the disease. Among the exercise training that helps in improving the recovery process are upper limb training and strength training. Upper limb training focuses on lower extremities while strength training increases the muscle strength and mass (Kirsten, et al., 1998). Additionally, there is the endurance training which seeks to improve aerobic exercise capacity as guided by frequency, intensity, and duration. Thus, there is no chance that exercise training can slow down the progression of the disease. The only time when this can happen is when wrong exercise training is done without the recommendation of the doctor. Exercise training should be part of a patient’s recovery plan and only the exercises recommended by the physician ought to be practiced. Maximum results of exercise training to improve the recovery process of patients with COPD is achieved when exercises are done gradually and before engaging in this kind of rehabilitation one should have consulted a healthcare provider. A healthcare provide can be of critical importance to finding a program which matches the patients physical condition and level of fitness.
How can improvements in symptoms after exercise training be explained? What are the possible physiological or psychological changes?
There are a number of ways that improvements in symptoms after exercise training can be explained in patients who have COPD. Among them include having tests for some of the symptoms such as heart rate, rate of breathing, treadmill endurance test as well as a walk test. Other ways of explaining the improvements in symptoms include the overall response of the intervention after a certain period such as 3 months. Some of the possible physiological and psychological changes include decrease in blood pressure, lungs show improved gas exchange and increased expiratory flow rates, improved appetite, finding exercising to be fun, more energized, decreased depression, and lack of stress.

Works Cited
Belman, M. J. (1993). Exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thorax, 48(9), 936-946.
Dourado, V. Z., Tanni, S. E., Antunes, L. C. O., Paiva, S. A. R. D., Campana, A. O., Renno, A. C. M., & Godoy, I. (2009). Effect of three exercise programs on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 42(3), 263-271.
Emtner, M., & Wadell, K. (2016). Effects of exercise training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—a narrative review for FYSS (Swedish Physical Activity Exercise Prescription Book). Br J Sports Med, bjsports-2015.
Kirsten, D. K., Taube, C., Lehnigk, B., Jörres, R. A., & Magnussen, H. (1998). Exercise training improves recovery in patients with COPD after an acute exacerbation. Respiratory medicine, 92(10), 1191-1198.
Mador, M. J., Krauza, M., & Shaffer, M. (2012). Effect of exercise training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with healthy elderly subjects. Journal of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention, 32(3), 155-162.
Spruit, M. A., Burtin, C., De Boever, P., Langer, D., Vogiatzis, I., Wouters, E. F., & Franssen, F. M. (2016). COPD and exercise: does it make a difference?. Breathe, 12(2), e38.