Improving the body’s aerobic fitness after a stroke usually involves moderate, but regular exercise. A more effective way may involve short, intense bouts of exercise. Canadian researchers reported to the American Heart Association journal Stroke on survivors between six months and five years after their stroke. Two groups of stroke survivors gained improvement from a physical endurance standpoint during the twelve-week program--including ability to walk the distance of three football fields in six minutes and none reported any negative effects. However, the higher intensity exercise bursts showed cardio fitness levels improved twice as much as patients in the moderate training group—and stayed that way when checked again eight weeks later.