A new exercise program for stroke recovery is being tested in a small trial

Weakness is one of the most common consequences of stroke. For the over 750,000 Canadians living with stroke, many daily activities like standing from a chair, walking and balance not only require strength but often efforts in bursts, known as muscle power. Strength training can improve muscle strength and, when performed at higher speeds, can help build muscle power. Current guidelines for stroke recommend strength training but these are commonly performed at lower intensities and do not include any focus on building muscle power. There has been very little research on power training after stroke.

A 10-week power training program for people living with stroke, Power Exercise for Stroke Recovery (POWER-Feasibility, NCT05816811) was recently evaluated. POWER includes 3 phases of progressive exercise: building familiarity with the upper and lower body exercises, then strength, and lastly muscle power. The results from POWER-Feasibility are promising, suggesting that POWER is safe and may improve stroke recovery. POWER-Feasibility was a small study (15 participants), and POWER was not compared to a control intervention.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of POWER (POWER-Pilot) will now be conducted. Sixty people who are at least 6 months after stroke will be recruited. They will be randomly assigned to participate in POWER or standard strength training for stroke at lower intensities and without focus on power training. The feasibility of a randomized study will be examined, and whether POWER can improve walking, strength and balance compared to the control group. Results from POWER-Pilot will help design a larger randomized trial in the future (POWER-RCT), and may ultimately be important for stroke rehabilitation teams to better understand whether power training can help people recovering from stroke.