Part of the stroke recovery process will involve stroke therapy. This phase of recovery will usually commence after the stroke survivor is stabilized with their condition. Once that has been established it should be full steam ahead with stroke exercises. Strokes affect more than thirty million Americans each and every year.
They do not discriminate and affect all genders, races and ages. Research has enabled us to learn more about preventing a stroke with regards to lifestyle choices. It
has also enabled us to improve the stroke therapy, making it more effective than ever before.
Stroke therapy is probably not a daunting task if you have had formal training in the area. If not, then it can be a tad overwhelming. A basic understanding of the brain and the stroke recovery process can go a long way to helping improve motivation and increase compliance when undertaking a stroke rehabilitation program. Just an understanding of the functioning of the brain and the adaptive principles that occur during a stroke recovery process can be a good foundation. This article will cover some key principles about stroke therapy. The first being the frequency that a exercises is applied. Closely related to that is the consistency and volume that exercises are used. And the last principle is specificity, which can greatly improve efficiency.
Stroke therapy is built on the cornerstone of frequency with regards to the performance of stroke exercises. The exercises are a sort of stress that the body must adapt to. A good example is the stress of lifting weights in the gym. For the body to be forced to adapt the stress must be of a certain frequency or the body will not
feel making any changes are worthwhile. Think if you went to the gym just once a week, would that be enough to force the body to change and adapt? Probably not. But if you went to the gym four times in a week, then the body notices the regularity of the activity and feels that it must be important and worth adapting to. The same is true for your use of stroke exercises for stroke therapy.
Following on from the above point of frequency is volume and consistency of the stroke therapy performed. These three variables form a trinity in the application of exercises for stroke recovery. Not only do we need an adequate frequency that stimulates the body to change but we also need a certain volume of work that acts as an adequate stress for the body to adapt towards. If you walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes, would your heart and lungs want to get fitter? Possibly if you were very unfit, but once past that stage you would need some more volume of work to stimulate any change. If the volume of exercise is too much the body cannot handle it and that is not a good thing. So it may be a bit of trial and error to find the correct balance.
On top off all this, consistency over a period of time must be given for stroke therapy. Consistently performing stroke exercises over a prolonged period will give the best chance at stroke recovery. Once again with the gym example because it is easy to relate to. If you go to the gym the correct amount but only go for 3 weeks, could you really expect any change? Would the change be better if you went for 3months? Of course it would. A prolonged period of consistency with stroke exercises will provide the best results for stroke recovery.
The last point for stroke therapy is an often overlooked aspect and that is specificity. The brain has many different lobes that are responsible for different functions. When we are able to be specific with our stroke exercises we can really maximize our recovery efforts. We are more efficient with our stroke therapy time
and we will yield better results. If you wanted to build bigger muscles you wouldn't go to the gym and run on the treadmill and not lift any weights? It just doesn't make sense. Yet time and time again, I see the application of outdated protocols or therapies or misguided good intention in the design of a stroke therapy program.
This can consist of poor quality stroke exercises or exercises that are not appropriate for the individual.
This article is a basic introduction into some key principles that can help a stroke therapy program. Getting these in balance will yield the fastest and best results.
I recommend those that are in need of stroke rehabilitation or interested in stroke recovery to learn the latest exercises, techniques and principles and to apply them specifically to the needs of the stroke survivor, as this is the only way to ensure that the potential for stroke recovery has been maximized.
Stroke therapy is probably not a daunting task if you have had formal training in the area. If not, then it can be a tad overwhelming. A basic understanding of the brain and the stroke recovery process can go a long way to helping improve motivation and increase compliance when undertaking a stroke rehabilitation program. Just an understanding of the functioning of the brain and the adaptive principles that occur during a stroke recovery process can be a good foundation. This article will cover some key principles about stroke therapy. The first being the frequency that a exercises is applied. Closely related to that is the consistency and volume that exercises are used. And the last principle is specificity, which can greatly improve efficiency.
Stroke therapy is built on the cornerstone of frequency with regards to the performance of stroke exercises. The exercises are a sort of stress that the body must adapt to. A good example is the stress of lifting weights in the gym. For the body to be forced to adapt the stress must be of a certain frequency or the body will not
feel making any changes are worthwhile. Think if you went to the gym just once a week, would that be enough to force the body to change and adapt? Probably not. But if you went to the gym four times in a week, then the body notices the regularity of the activity and feels that it must be important and worth adapting to. The same is true for your use of stroke exercises for stroke therapy.
Following on from the above point of frequency is volume and consistency of the stroke therapy performed. These three variables form a trinity in the application of exercises for stroke recovery. Not only do we need an adequate frequency that stimulates the body to change but we also need a certain volume of work that acts as an adequate stress for the body to adapt towards. If you walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes, would your heart and lungs want to get fitter? Possibly if you were very unfit, but once past that stage you would need some more volume of work to stimulate any change. If the volume of exercise is too much the body cannot handle it and that is not a good thing. So it may be a bit of trial and error to find the correct balance.
On top off all this, consistency over a period of time must be given for stroke therapy. Consistently performing stroke exercises over a prolonged period will give the best chance at stroke recovery. Once again with the gym example because it is easy to relate to. If you go to the gym the correct amount but only go for 3 weeks, could you really expect any change? Would the change be better if you went for 3months? Of course it would. A prolonged period of consistency with stroke exercises will provide the best results for stroke recovery.
The last point for stroke therapy is an often overlooked aspect and that is specificity. The brain has many different lobes that are responsible for different functions. When we are able to be specific with our stroke exercises we can really maximize our recovery efforts. We are more efficient with our stroke therapy time
and we will yield better results. If you wanted to build bigger muscles you wouldn't go to the gym and run on the treadmill and not lift any weights? It just doesn't make sense. Yet time and time again, I see the application of outdated protocols or therapies or misguided good intention in the design of a stroke therapy program.
This can consist of poor quality stroke exercises or exercises that are not appropriate for the individual.
This article is a basic introduction into some key principles that can help a stroke therapy program. Getting these in balance will yield the fastest and best results.
I recommend those that are in need of stroke rehabilitation or interested in stroke recovery to learn the latest exercises, techniques and principles and to apply them specifically to the needs of the stroke survivor, as this is the only way to ensure that the potential for stroke recovery has been maximized.
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