Chronic stroke survivors benefit from high-intensity aerobic treadmill exercise: a randomized control trial.

Background And Objective: Ambulatory subjects after stroke may benefit from gait-oriented cardiovascular fitness training, but trials to date have not primarily assessed older persons.

Methods: Thirty-eight subjects (age >60 years) with residual hemiparetic gait were enrolled >6 months after stroke. Participants were randomized to receive 3 months (3×/week) progressive graded, high-intensity aerobic treadmill exercise (TAEX) or conventional care physiotherapy.

Predictors of response to treadmill exercise in stroke survivors.

Background: Aerobic treadmill exercise (T-EX) therapy has been shown to benefit walking and cardiorespiratory fitness in stroke survivors with chronic gait impairment even long after their stroke. The response, however, varies between individuals.

Objective: The purpose of this post hoc analysis of 2 randomized controlled T-EX trials was to identify predictors for therapy response.