Tips For Exercising Safely
Before starting an exercise program, consult with your neurologist and primary care doctor about any health concerns and ask for recommendations, the Parkinsons Foundation advises.
Ask your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist who knows about Parkinsons together, the two of you can identify any concerns and physical limitations you may have. Your exercise regimen should be targeted to address your symptoms and physical limitations.
You should stop any exercise or stretch that causes pain, and take steps to prevent falls while exercising, such as:
- If indoors, remove area or throw rugs
- Work out in well-lit areas
- Dont use rolling chairs
- Work out with friends or buddies, particularly when performing outdoor activities
- Stay hydrated
- Avoid overexertion
Where Can I Find Support If I Have Parkinson’s Disease And Want To Exercise
You can find exercise support in your community. For example, many gyms and community centers offer seated exercise classes for people who struggle with balance. Ask your healthcare provider for ideas if you have Parkinsons disease and want to exercise.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Exercise is an important part of managing Parkinsons disease. Talk to your healthcare provider about your exercise program and choose activities you enjoy so you stay motivated to get up and move every day.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 04/08/2021.
References
Aerobic Exercise Helps You Maintain A Healthy Weight
Aerobic exercise helps keep your heart healthy while helping your body burn calories and maintain a healthy weight. Examples of aerobic exercises include walking, jogging, running, swimming, dancing, water aerobics, chair aerobics, and biking.
The Parkinsons Foundation recommends doing 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, five times a week. Your routines are up to you, and you can design them around any physical limitations.
I really encourage my patients to get out into nature, go for a walk in the park with a friend or spend time in the garden, Subramanian notes. Being outside in the sunshine is healthy, as long as you dont get too much sun, and walking or hiking can get your heart rate up. Doing these activities with friends or caregivers is also fun and helps avoid the isolation some people with Parkinsons experience.
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How Exercise Helps With Parkinsons Symptom Management
In general, the Parkinsons Foundation says, exercise helps improve gait, balance, flexibility, and grip strength while reducing tremors. A review of existing research published in the August 2016 edition of the journal Frontiers in Medicine found that exercise may also improve cognition, while reducing depression and fatigue.
Does Exercise Slow Disease Progression
Pre-clinical work demonstrates that exercise has protective effects on brain cells. It boosts trophic factors, which are like fertilizer for brain cells and increases the number and activity of mitochondria, the cells energy sources. It also helps you use the dopamine your brain already has, more efficiently. Clinical studies also suggest that symptoms may progress more slowly in people who exercise.
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Exercise 2 Fire Hydrant
STARTING POSITION: On hands and knees.
Repeat 15 times.Rest and repeat for a second round.Switch to the other side.
SIDE VIEW:
Focus Training On Specific Body Parts
If a specific part of your body is more affected by Parkinsons, avoid falling into the habit of using it less. You can boost the neural adaptation by forcing yourself to work that limb with strength training and specific task movements. For example, if your left arm is more affected, practice exercises to engage it. Try tapping your right arms fingers, wrist, and forearm with your left hand as quickly as you can. Pair these movements with a mental picture of you doing the activity in your mind. This will further enhance the rewiring that the exercise does, boosting your functioning of that limb.
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Types Of Exercise Suitable For Parkinsons Disease Patients
If you have Parkinsons disease, there are a lot of health benefits that come along with exercise. Staying active can help you sleep, strengthen your muscles and joints, reduce stress and depression, and improve posture, balance, and gait.
But what sort of exercise should you do? The types of exercise you choose will depend, to some degree, on the severity of your Parkinsons disease and your overall health. According to the Parkinsons Disease Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, the exercises should be varied and incorporate changing directions through unplanned movement, cardiovascular exercise, balance, strength training and rhythmical exercises.
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Unplanned and Random MovementThe exercises listed require the person to change tempo and direction regularly. These will challenge a person mentally as well as physically as they require concentration to perform.
- Walking, hiking or jogging
- Racket sports such as badminton, table tennis, squash
- Yoga or Tai Chi
- Swimming in different strokes
Exercise 3 Knee Drops
STARTING POSITION: Lying flat on your back on the mat.
Repeat 10-15 times per side.Perform two rounds.
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Phase Three: Full Body Stretch
Touching toes: start with standard width stance. Go up on toes and try to stay on toes throughout. First, stretch arms up over head and take a deep breath. Focus on stretching hands open and extending your fingers. Next, bend forward at the waist and try to place your fingertips or even palms on the ground. Legs should remain straight but not locked. Exhale on the way down. Pause and repeat.
Shake it out!
Assessment Of Gait Parameters
Stride time , percentage of double stance time , stride length and the coefficient of stride length were assessed at different walking speeds on a motorized medical treadmill ergometer. There is sufficient evidence that gait variability is increased in basal ganglia disorders . Furthermore, increased stride-to-stride variability might reflect a failure of automatic stepping mechanisms . Increased gait variability can be seen throughout the course of Parkinsons disease and has been found to be one aspect of walking, closely associated with risk of falls in the elderly .
For better comparison of the training effects patients walked at 6 different walking speeds prior and after the training period. The treadmill was equipped with force platforms, that allowed an accurate determination of foot-ground contact. Patients were not allowed to use the handrails of the treadmill for support.
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Best Physical And Occupational Therapy Exercises
Physical therapy exercises target your areas of concern. They can help develop your strength, balance, and coordination. Youll also enhance your functional mobility by improving concentration, flexibility, and range of motion.
Occupational therapy exercises are intended to help you perform daily activities related to work, school, or home with greater ease.
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Re+active Pt Videos For Home Exercising
Cost: Free
re+active has posted to its YouTube channel a few exercise videos, including a seated re+move class , Parkinson’s exercise class , and pole walking .
Cost: Free
This is a series of 66 short videos. There are stretches, warm ups, workouts, fitness challenges, tai chi, and tips & tricks videos. The idea is by the time you’ve followed along with one video in each category, you’ve done a whole body workout.
Cost: Free
Three short videos include quick chair exercises, exercises for stronger legs and glutes, and exercises for better balance.
Cost: $14.95/month or $135/year after a free one week trial
A growing library of workouts for those with Parkinson’s, including: 5-minute workouts, Undefeated Boxing, Rise & Shine morning blast, exercise ball, Brain & Body Bar, and Parkinsons’ workout with towel and ball.
Cost: Free
This collection of pre-recorded exercise videos includes three 20-minute warm up/stretching videos, four 20-minute seated workouts, one 20-minute upper body boxing video, a 9 minute boxing basics video, two one-hour Rock Steady Boxing Winnipeg workouts, two advanced RSBW workouts, and two yoga Parkinson’s workouts.
Cost: Free
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Exercise 1 Option : Bird Dog
STARTING POSITION: On hands and knees.
Repeat 10 times per leg.Rest and repeat for two rounds.
What Is Parkinsons Disease
With Parkinsons, the brain neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine become damaged. The resulting drop in dopamine causes the classic symptoms of tremors, rigidity, slowing of movements, and impaired balance and coordination. The disease usually affects people over the age of 60, but young-onset Parkinsons disease can occur as early as your 30s.
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Expert Exercises For Parkinsons Disease
By Melita Petrossian, M.D. Medical Director for Movement Disorders Center at Providence Saint Johns Health Center
In the past two decades, scientific studies have shown again, and again that exercise and physical activity can have dramatic impacts on the outcome and well-being in Parkinsons disease . The benefits of exercise are so widespread, as listed below, that exercise should be thought of as medicine, but with almost no side effects. I have many PD patients who are so dedicated to improving their neurological health with an exercise regimen that they become more physically fit than before they were diagnosed with PD. These patients often report, anecdotally, that they feel worse regarding their PD when they dont have the opportunity to exercise consistently.
Benefits of exercise include:
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What Are The Best Exercises For Parkinsons
An example of one of the best exercises for Parkinsons disease is the toe up, which gets the patient to raise his or her toes when taking a step. Stretches for the neck, arms and legs are also important, although some may be difficult for the patient to perform. Other exercises for Parkinsons include practicing being in small spaces, using small steps when turning and practicing any daily activity that is difficult.
The toe up exercise is one of the most important for people who suffer from Parkinsons disease. To perform the exercise, the person walks slowly while ensuring that the foot lands on the heel and rolls forward to the toe. Also, when performed slowly, the exercise can be used as a stretch for the lower leg muscles, which can help with leg cramps.
Practicing taking steps in the correct way is also important for someone with Parkinsons. In general, the person should use short steps only when turning, and long steps for regular walking. This can take some practice, but can reduce the chance of the patient falling over.
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So What Type Of Exercise Is Best
There are many different forms of exercise, but what type is right for you? Every individual is different! Its important to remember that although a combination of aerobic, resistance and balance exercises have the best overall effect, you may need to modify each element to your suit your unique circumstance.
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is described as continual movement to assist in the improvement of cardiorespiratory function. This includes walking, cycling, swimming and even dancing! Exercising to music specifically has seen some fantastic results in managing Parkinsons symptoms. Dance for Parkinsons Australia run specialised dance classes across Australia, providing a social environment so share stimulating activity.
Resistance exercise
Maintaining strength is not only important to keep our muscles healthy, it also helps with daily activities like getting off the toilet and getting out of the car. Resistance exercises can be performed using your body weight, light hand weights, resistance bands, various machines found in a gym setting or even using common household items like cans of food. Moving your muscle under a greater resistance promotes an increase in muscle mass. You may like to participate in group setting, a home program, or a combination of both.
Flexibility exercise
Exercise And Postural Balance
All PD patients enrolled in the present study had moderate/severe balance and postural abnormalities , both while moving and while standing still . After 8-week upper-limb training, they exhibit significant improvement in balance and postural control as revealed by SOT and MCT: better alignment of the gravity center improved backward and forward WS and improvement of anticipatory motor strategies. This suggests that intrinsic postural motor learning is preserved in PD patients. In PD subjects, the ability to partially recovery balance and posture control can result from re-weighting the contributions of areas implicated in the central postural motor learning network , to compensate for dysfunction in cortico-basal networks .
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Phase Four: Deep Breathing
Flat-footed squats: start with feet slightly wider than standard width. Feet are flat and facing forward. Extend both arms in front, parallel with the ground, palms facing away and fingers pointed up. Maintain the arm position throughout. Exhale and slowly squat as low as you can comfortably go. It should feel like sitting back into a chair. Exhale on the way down and empty your lungs by the bottom of the squat. Inhale and stand back up. Repeat.
Alternating side-bend toe touch: start with a wide stance . With your left hand, bend down and try to touch your left ankle . Exhale on the way down. Inhale and stand back up. Now exhale and cross the left hand to touch the right ankle. Inhale and straighten. Repeat with right hand. Four touches make a single repetition.
Spleen and liver press: start with same wide stance as the previous exercise. Bend down and hug your left leg. Pull it tight into your torso, wrap your arms around and squeeze hard. At the same time, exhale forcibly. It’s normal to cough and the goal is to clear your lungs. Stand back up, inhale, then do the same with your right leg. Repeat three times. This is one exercise I don’t increase the repetitions on.
Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria
Only references published in English were considered from 1985 to November 2020. Original research articles, clinical trials and randomized control trials were included in the study. The review papers and meta-analysis papers relevant to PD patients were excluded from this study, while they were carefully checked for suitable and relevant missing references.
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Assessment Of Technical Skills
The technique of the Nordic walking training appeared to be very challenging for the patients. Patients had difficulties in opening the hands during the push-off phase. Furthermore, patients tended to carry the pole without weight loading with the more affected hand. However, the group managed to learn the Nordic walking technique, but the level of performance differed between the patients. 17 of the patients mastered the NW technique very well, 10 patients showed a good technical performance and 3 patients performed poorly. Both the NW group and the walking group had difficulties in employing a diagonal sequence and an interlimb coordination. Patients did not notice the technical deficits and depended on the coaching of the instructors.
Seated Option: Calf Stretch with Strap
How Can Exercise Help
Drug therapy has changed the trajectory of the disease progression for many with Parkinsons, and theres exciting research that supports the role of exercise in slowing and even reversing some symptoms. It appears that exercise stimulates the brain to better compensate for the reduction in dopamine production through a process called neuroplasticity. This process essentially rewires the brain, creating new pathways that enable the body to move more normally.
Peter Schmidt, Ph.D., senior VP and chief research and clinical officer of the Parkinsons Foundation, says that those with Parkinsons disease can gain significant benefits from including two and a half hours of moderate to intense exercise every week. That amount seems to be the sweet spot for slowing the progression of the disease and improving motor function.
Taking part in almost any exercise is great for those with Parkinsons, but Dr. Schmidt stresses that including new activities that are new helps challenge neural circuits and stimulates the brain to learn, which can have the biggest impact on slowing the progression of the disease.
Heres a list of activities that will keep you moving well with Parkinsons disease.
Aaptiv has thousands of different workouts, ranging from strength, outdoor running, to meditation and yoga.
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