Cardiovascular stress during a contemporary stroke rehabilitation program: Is the intensity adequate to induce a training effect?

I bet that the intensity is not enough to produce neurogenesis either. Only 15 years old and I bet this is still not known and applied  in stroke centers. My therapists never wanted me to get tired.

The sweet spot for neurogenesis and getting the brain and body to produce the brain friendly hormones (factors)  is 45 minutes or more at 75% of maximum heart rate (65% for women). 

 

Cardiovascular stress during a contemporary stroke rehabilitation program: Is the intensity adequate to induce a training effect?

Presented as an abstract at the 26th International Stroke Conference, February 15, 2001, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Marilyn J. MacKay-Lyons, PhD

,

Lydia Makrides, PhD

School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University (MacKay-Lyons, Makrides); and Health and Wellness Institute (Makrides), Halifax, NS, Canada

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/apmr.2002.35089

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Abstract

MacKay-Lyons MJ, Makrides L. Cardiovascular stress during a contemporary stroke rehabilitation program: is the intensity adequate to induce a training effect? Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1378-83.
Objectives: To investigate the level of cardiovascular stress of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) sessions of a contemporary stroke rehabilitation program and to identify therapeutic activities that elicit heart rate responses adequate to induce a training effect.  
Design: A descriptive, longitudinal study with heart rate and activity monitoring of PT and OT sessions at biweekly intervals, 2 to 14 weeks poststroke.  
Setting: An acute inpatient stroke unit and inpatient and outpatient stroke rehabilitation units. Participants: A consecutive sample of 20 patients with ischemic stroke who participated in inpatient and outpatient stroke rehabilitation.
Intervention: Observation of routine PT and OT sessions for patients poststroke without influencing the extent and content of the sessions.
Main Outcome Measure: Time per session in which heart rate was within the calculated target heart rate zone.  
Results: Time per PT session spent in target heart rate zone was low (2.8±0.9min), and per OT session was negligible (0.7±0.2min) over the course of rehabilitation. Conclusions: The PT and OT sessions between 2 and 14 weeks poststroke did not elicit adequate cardiovascular stress to induce a training effect. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation