The HIIT group will engage in session of alternating high-intensity and low-intensity exercise.

• Total Duration: 30-35 minutes per session

• Frequency: 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

• Duration of program: 12 weeks

• Intensity: Fastest safe walking speed or 85%-95% heart rate reserve

• Exercise mode: Treadmill Session structure:

  1. Warm-up

     1. Activity: Light walking/jogging
     2. Duration: 5 min
     3. Intensity: Low intensity, 40-50% of maximum heart rate.

  2. Main workout: (Interval training)

     1. Repetitions: 6-10 intervals
     2. Structure:

High-Intensity Phase:

1. Activity: sprinting or fast running pace
2. Duration: 5 min
3. Intensity: 85-95% of maximum heart rate

Recovery phase:

1. Activity: walking/slow jogging

2. Duration: 1-2 mins

3. Intensity: 50-60% of max heart rate c. Interval pattern: 5 min high intensity, followed by 1-2 min recovery. d. Total High-Intensity Duration: 4x5=20 minutes e. Total Recovery Period: 4x2=8 minutes

4. Cool Down:

   1. Activity:

IFT group will engage in session of task-oriented exercises (3 different tasks per circuit) focused on improving functional ability.

• Total Duration:

  30 minutes/session; 6-9 circuits of 3 minutes each

• Frequency: 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

• Duration of program: 12 weeks.

• Intensity: maintain heart rate 30-50 beats per minute above resting levels.

• Exercise mode: task-oriented functional exercises such as

• Rolling side to side on a mat

• Moving from lying to sitting and sitting to standing

• Stepping and transferring from standing to the floor and back

Session structure:

1. Warm-up

   1. Activity: Light walking/jogging
   2. Duration: 5 min
   3. Intensity: Low intensity 40-50% of maximum heart rate.

2. Main workout: (IFT circuits)

   • Circuit 1 (3 minutes) Task 1: Rolling side to side on a mat (1 minute). Task 2: Moving from lying to sitting (1 minute). Task 3: Standing up from a chair (1 minute). Rest (30-60 seconds).
   • Circuit 2 (3 minutes):

Task 1: Stepping onto a

The intervention consists of HIIT protocol performed 3-5 days per week for a period of 12 weeks, focusing on either the fastest safe walking speed for mobility gains or maintaining 85%-95% of heart rate reserve or power output at 90%-100% VO2 peak. Each session should last 25-30 minutes, utilizing a burst-to-recovery ratio of 30 seconds of intense activity followed by 30-60 seconds to 3 minutes of recovery. Treadmills or recumbent steppers will be used, with careful monitoring of intensity to prevent potential hypotensive responses.

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is a graded neurological examination that assesses speech, language cognition, inattention, visual field abnormalities, motor and sensory impairments, and ataxia. The scale was developed for use in acute-stroke therapy trials and has since been widely used as a standard part of the assessment in clinical trials. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) demonstrates high reliability and validity in assessing stroke severity. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability coefficients typically exceed 0.90, indicating consistent scoring among different clinicians and repeated assessments. The scale shows strong construct validity, correlating well with other measures like the modified Rankin Scale and predicting outcomes, as higher NIHSS scores are linked to increased mortality and disability. With a Cronbach's alpha above 0.90, the NIHSS is recognized as an effective tool for guiding treatment decisions and assessing patien

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The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is commonly used to measure cardiovascular fitness and overall functional capacity. The 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) has shown strong reliability and validity in stroke patients. Specifically, studies report intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.85 to 0.95, indicating excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability. For validity, the 6MWT correlates well with other functional measures, such as the Barthel Index and the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, with correlation coefficients often exceeding 0.70. Additionally, it has been shown to predict outcomes such as mortality and functional independence post-stroke. These statistics underscore the test's utility in assessing exercise capacity and guiding rehabilitation efforts