Exercise training programme
STRETCHES
Exercise sessions were supervised virtually by an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP) via the online video conferencing platform Zoom (Zoom Inc). Sessions were conducted by a single exercise physiologist with up to three participants. Participants were given the option of morning or afternoon sessions at set times and could move/reschedule sessions within the same week (sessions that could not be rescheduled were recorded as missed sessions). Participants baseline exercise capability/fitness was determined based on their physical assessment scores at baseline and the AEP's clinical judgement. A Gymstick (Gymstick, Gymstick International Oy) and intervention materials (exercise information booklets and logs) were provided at no cost to participants. The exercise programme (≤60 min duration) included resistance, aerobic and balance exercises with a 5‐min warm‐up and cool‐down each session. Balance activities (i.e. side touching, heel‐toe walking and single‐leg balance), light aerobic activity and stretches were included in the warm‐up and cool‐down.The resistance exercise component (~30 min) included a combination of exercises using bodyweight and elastic resistance (Gymstick). Based on the participants baseline exercise capability/fitness, they utilised either a black elastic band (1–20 kg) or grey elastic band (1–25 kg) on the Gymstick. Resistance exercise comprised training the major upper and lower body muscle groups with participants instructed to perform 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions for each exercise. A variety of exercises were utilised over the 8‐week period, for example, chest press, bent‐over row, shoulder press, biceps curl, squats, lunges and calf raise (Table The aerobic exercise component (~20 min) initially included 5 sets of 1‐min intervals of moderate‐to‐high intensity on the spot/stationary exercises such as marching, boxing and jogging on the spot (Table 