Objective Exercise is an effective, inexpensive, home-based, and accessible intervention strategy for stroke treatment, and early exercise after stroke has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. However, the effects of early exercise on comprehensive functional recovery remain poorly understood. The present study investigated the effect of early exercise on motor, sense, balance, and spatial memory recovery. Design Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to unilateral middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and were randomly divided into early exercise group (EE), non-exercise group (NE), and sham group. EE group received 2 weeks of exercise training initiated at 24 hours after operation. The recovery of motor, sense, and balance function was evaluated every 3 days after MCAO. Spatial memory recovery was detected from 21 to 25 days after MCAO. Results The results showed that early exercise significantly promoted the motor and spatial memory recovery with statistical differences. The rats in EE group have a better recovery in sense and balance function, but there is no statistically significant difference about these results. Conclusion Our results showed that early moderate exercise can significantly promote motor and spatial memory recovery, but not the sense and balance functions. Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.