Objective To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of regular aerobic exercise on cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods According to the random number table method , 40 specific pathogen-free male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation, model, experimental, and control groups. The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat model was constructed by the thread plug method . Rats in the sham operation group were threaded without ligation. Rats in the experimental group performed regular aerobic exercise ( running on a treadmill) every day with an exercise intensity of 20 m/ min, three times a day, 20 min each time, and 2 h apart each time. Rats in the control group were given 1. 08 mg / mL nimodipine by gavage daily. Laser speckle imaging was used to observe changes in blood flow in the cerebral cortex. Electroencephalograms were used to detect changes in total power in the cerebral cortex. 2, 3, 5- triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining was used to detect cerebral infarct areas. Western Blot was used to detect the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF) and growth-associated protein 43 ( GAP43) in brain tissue. Results Compared with the sham group, the cerebral cortex blood perfusion, total cerebral cortex power, and expression of BDNF and GAP43 in the model, experimental, and control groups were significantly decreased (P<0.05), and infarct area was significantly increased (P< 0. 05). Compared with the model group, the cerebral cortex blood perfusion, total cerebral cortex power, and expression of BDNF and GAP43 in the experimental and control groups were significantly increased (P<0. 05), and the infarct area was significantly decreased (P<0. 05). Conclusions Regular aerobic exercise can significantly improve blood perfusion and cerebral microvascular circulatory disorders in cerebral ischemic rats, reduce infarct size in brain tissue, and inhibit the inflammatory cascade, which may be related to activation of the BDNF/ GAP43 pathway.