307: Research Update: Treadmill VS Overground Walking In Persons With MS With Herb Karpatkin, PT, DSc, NCS, MSCS

307: Research Update: Treadmill VS Overground Walking In Persons With MS With Herb Karpatkin, PT, DSc, NCS, MSCS

From I Love Neuro by Erin Gallardo and Claire McLean

March 2, 2026 · 39 min

About this episode

Erin Gallardo interviews Dr. Herb Karpatkin about the differences in therapy approaches for people with multiple sclerosis, focusing on treadmill versus overground walking.

In this episode host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS interviews Multiple Sclerosis specialist and researcher Dr. Herb Karpatkin, PT, DSc, NCS, MSCS to discuss how therapy for people with multiple sclerosis must be fundamentally different from approaches used for stroke, spinal cord injury, or TBI. In his research Herb discovered an incidental finding that led to more questions that he and his team wanted to investigate: does treadmill walking carry over to overground walking in persons with MS? In the show he explains the nuances of treadmill walking for persons with MS vs healthy controls and when to use it or not. Herb shares his framework on intermittent, high-intensity interval walking and strength training, which allow people with MS to push hard, rest, and achieve meaningful aerobic gains and functional improvements without excessive fatigue. Instead of telling people with MS they can't work hard or lift heavy, his research finds that to be absolutely untrue. Herb and Erin also discuss a couple of past patients who wanted to complete the MS Society 5k walk and what the training looked like and what could have been done differently. The topic of cooling came up and how to…

People in this episode

Host: Erin Gallardo

Guest: Herb Karpatkin Pt Dsc Ncs Mscs

Topics covered

  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • treadmill walking
  • overground walking
  • high-intensity interval training
  • strength training
  • cooling techniques

Keywords

  • aerobic gains
  • functional improvements
  • MS Society 5k walk

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