PHYSIOLOGICAL OUTCOMES OF AEROBIC EXERCISE TRAINING IN HEMIPARETIC STROKE PATIENTS

Background and Propose In hemiparetic individuals, low endurance to ex ercise may compound the increased energy cost of movement and contribu te to poor rehabilitation outcomes. The purpose of this investigation was to describe how hemiparetic stroke patients responded to intense e xercise and aerobic training. Methods Forty-two subjects were randomly assigned to an exercise training group or to a control group. Treatme nts were given three times per week for 10 weeks in similar laboratory settings. Baseline and posttest measurements were made of maximal oxy gen consumption, heart rate, workload, exercise time, resting and subm aximal blood pressures, and sensorimotor function. Results Only experi mental subjects showed significant improvement in maximal oxygen consu mption: workload, and exercise time. Improvement in sensorimotor funct ion was significantly related to the improvement in aerobic capacity. After treatment, experimental subjects showed significantly lower syst olic blood pressure at submaximal workloads during the graded exercise test. Conclusions We conclude that hemiparetic stroke patients may im prove their aerobic capacity and submaximal exercise systolic blood pr essure response with training. Sensorimotor improvement is related to the improvement in aerobic capacity.