Strength training after stroke showed strength gains, little change in comfortable walking speed
A review found clearer evidence for stronger arms and legs than for reduced disability or prevention of further cardiovascular events.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Resistance training probably improves muscle strength after stroke, but comfortable walking speed showed little or no benefit over control conditions at program completion. Balance may improve slightly. Deaths also showed no clear difference. Evidence was too limited for firm conclusions about disability or prevention of later cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events, so strength gains alone do not establish broader recovery.
Sparse follow-up data, imprecise estimates and risk of bias reduced confidence. This abstract-based explanation cannot establish whether strength gains persisted.
What researchers found
Comfortable walking speed
Difference in average speed at program completion: resistance training versus usual care, no intervention or non-exercise activities; moderate-certainty evidence.
What the trials tested
Programs used equipment or bodyweight movements with gradually increasing demands. Most trials recruited people who could walk, so the findings have limited reach for stroke survivors with greater mobility restrictions.
Separate strength from function
The review treated muscle strength, disability and comfortable walking speed as separate outcomes. The speed estimate was near zero, but its confidence interval allowed both slower and faster speeds; this does not demonstrate equivalence.
The original publication
Resistance training for people with stroke.
Saunders DH, Baker G, Cheyne JD et al.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40990154
- Record checked
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