title: Forced Aerobic Exercise Preceding Task Practice Improves Motor Recovery Poststroke.
abstract: To understand how two types of aerobic exercise affect upper-extremity motor recovery post-stroke. Our aims were to (1) evaluate the feasibility of having people who had a stroke complete an aerobic exercise intervention and (2) determine whether forced or voluntary exercise differentially facilitates upper-extremity recovery when paired with task practice.
  
  
  
  Seventeen participants with chronic stroke completed twenty-four 90-min sessions over 8 wk. Aerobic exercise was immediately followed by task practice. Participants were randomized to forced or voluntary aerobic exercise groups or to task practice only.
  
  
  
  Improvement on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment exceeded the minimal clinically important difference: 12.3, 4.8, and 4.4 for the forced exercise, voluntary exercise, and repetitive task practice-only groups, respectively. Only the forced exercise group exhibited a statistically significant improvement.
  
  
  
  People with chronic stroke can safely complete intensive aerobic exercise. Forced aerobic exercise may be optimal in facilitating motor recovery associated with task practice.
authors.affiliation: Susan M. Linder, DPT, NCS, is Project Staff, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Cleveland Clinic Concussion Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; linders@ccf.org.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.affiliation: Anson B. Rosenfeldt, DPT, MBA, is Research Physical Therapist, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Anson B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Rosenfeldt
authors.affiliation: Tanujit Dey, PhD, is Associate Staff, Cleveland Clinic Concussion Center and Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Tanujit
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.affiliation: Jay L. Alberts, PhD, is Staff, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Neurological Restoration, and Cleveland Clinic Concussion Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Jay L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Alberts