Corresponding Author: Martin Halle, MD, Department of Prevention and Sports Medicine, Accredited Centre for Sports Cardiology/EAPC, School of Medicine, University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Georg-Brauchle-Ring 56, D-80992 Munich, Germany (martin.halle@mri.tum.de).
Accepted for Publication: December 28, 2020.
Author Contributions: Mr Mueller and Dr Haller had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Mr Mueller and Drs Winzer, van Craenenbroeck, and Halle contributed equally.
Concept and design: Edelmann, Haller, Beckers, Christle, Linke, Wisløff, Adams, Pieske, Halle.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Mueller, Winzer, Duvinage, Gevaert, Edelmann, Haller, Pieske-Kraigher, Beckers, Bobenko, Hommel, Van de Heyning, Esefeld, von Korn, Christle, Haykowsky, Linke, Van Craenenbroeck, Halle.
Drafting of the manuscript: Mueller, Duvinage, Haller, Haykowsky, Halle.
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.
Statistical analysis: Duvinage, Haller, Halle.
Obtained funding: Wisløff, Adams, Pieske, Halle.
Administrative, technical, or material support: Mueller, Gevaert, Edelmann, Beckers, Bobenko, Van de Heyning, von Korn, Christle, Linke, Wisløff, Adams, Halle.
Supervision: Mueller, Winzer, Edelmann, Pieske-Kraigher, Beckers, Van de Heyning, von Korn, Christle, Linke, Wisløff, Adams, Pieske, Van Craenenbroeck, Halle.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Mueller reported receiving grants from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering during the conduct of the study. Dr Winzer reported receiving personal fees from Novartis (honoraria for lectures and advisory board activities), Boehringer Ingelheim (honoraria for advisory board activities), and CVRX (honoraria for lectures) outside the submitted work. Dr Duvinage reported receiving grants from Novartis outside the submitted work. Dr Van de Heyning reported receiving speaker fees from Abbott, Daiichi Sankyo, and Edwards Lifesciences outside the submitted work. Dr Linke reported receiving speaker fees from Abbott, Medtronic, Edwards Lifesciences, AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, and Novartis; grants from Edwards Lifesciences and Novartis; advisory board fees from Transverse Medical, Picardia, Edwards Lifesciences, and Heart Leaflet Technology; and stock options from Claret Medical and Transverse Medical, and being a co-owner of Dresden Cardiovascular Research Institute and Core Laboratories outside the submitted work. Dr Pieske reported receiving personal fees from Bayer Healthcare (steering committee, lectures), Merck (steering committee, lectures), Novartis (steering committee, lectures), Servier, AstraZeneca (lectures), Bristol-Myers Squibb (lectures), and Medscape (lectures) outside the submitted work. Dr Van Craenenbroeck reported receiving grants from the Flemish Research Funds (FWO) during the conduct of the study. Dr Halle reported receiving grants from the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering during the conduct of the study and grants from Novartis (principal investigator of the Activity Study in HFrEF) and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Berlin Chemie-Menarini, Novartis, Daiichi-Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Roche, Abbott (advisory board on exercise and diabetes), Sanofi, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Bayer outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
Funding/Support: This trial was funded by the European Commission, Framework Program 7, grant No. EU-602405-2; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE); and the Flemish Research Funds (FWO) through a Senior Clinical Investigator grant to Dr van Craenenbroeck.
Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Group Information: The OptimEx-Clin Study Group members are listed in Supplement 2.
Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 3.
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