Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is a complex disorder damaging the airway and alveolar wall of the pulmonary structures. Combined aerobic training and Fitness education programs are well-instructed sessions that focused on decreasing the symptoms and improving the health and functional related parameters.

Objective: This study focuses on the comparative effects of combined aerobic strength training vs Fitness education programs in improving functional capacities and health status among COPD patients.

Methodology: A single blinded randomized clinical trial was conducted on 30 subjects (n=15) in the  Mayo and Jinnah Hospital of Lahore. Thirty patients were randomly allocated into two groups as Group A received a Fitness education program and Group B received a Combined aerobic strength training program. The total duration of the study was three weeks and assessment was done before treatment and after every week. Pulmonary function test and St’ George Questionnaire were used for the assessment of the patient’s improvement in lung volumes, health-related parameters and decreasing in the symptoms of COPD respectively.

Results: The results of the study showed that combined aerobic-strength training and Fitness education training are effective in improving post-treatment FEV₁, FVC, FEV₁/FVC and SGRQ score with p = 0.000 but on comparison between the groups confirmed that CAST produce better results in improving FEV₁, FVC, FEV₁/FVC and SGRQ score than FET with p value<0.05.  

Conclusion: The study concluded that Combined Aerobic-Strength training was an effective technique in improving lung functions and functional status in people with COPD than Fitness Education Program but Fitness Eduation Program can be used as an alternative protocol.

Index Terms: COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, Combined Aerobic Strength (CAST), Fitness Education program (FEP) , Quality of Life.