Review of studies · Exercise · 14 Oct 2026
Across 27 trials and 1,177 people, chronic exercise training made walking cost less energy in healthy adults
Source: Sports Medicine
What the research found
Study (systematic review and meta-analysis). Hortobágyi and colleagues pooled 27 studies, 36 training arms, and 1,177 people, published online 14 Oct 2026. Chronic exercise improved the energy cost of walking (effect size g = 0.40). The gain was clearer in 703 healthy adults (g = 0.49) than in people with stroke (g = 0.24, p = 0.065). The patient set also included one multiple-sclerosis study and one Parkinson's study. Higher average body mass index went with smaller effects. Training type, duration, intensity, and session length did not clearly change the result, and the model may have been too small to see those differences. People with neurological disease should plan training with a clinician. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Review of studies. This is among the stronger kinds of evidence, but one study rarely settles a question.
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