Exercise is really important for people living with Parkinson’s
Sometimes a boring sentence says it all. I didn’t want to ‘joowsh’* up the sentence by adding a joke, just in case someone misunderstood and didn’t exercise.
*to joowsh, I joowsh, we joowsh, you joowsh
To reiterate :
If you are an exerciser, please continue to be an exerciser
If you are not an exerciser, please become an exerciser
Before I get heckled – I know that people are at different stages, have different symptoms/progression. But even a teeny tiney amount of exercise must be possible for (almost) everyone, even a stretch of the upper tricpricales.
NB exercising does not always mean a marathon, or 1,000 squat thrusts a la Superstars, it can mean a brisk walk, or some seated exercise stretches. Please consult a medical professional before exercising, you don’t want to add an injury to the insult that is PD.
Now is a time for an admission. I used to incorporate exercise into every day but I have let exercise slip recently and (not sure if it is a coincidence) but things are getting more difficult. And then a new symptom popped up which a weakness in my knees with zipping pain.
Weakness – a word that has worried me. I haven’t had that before.
The original name for PD was The Shaking Palsy – shaking is self explanatory, palsy means weakness.
Everywhere I turn there is evidence that exercise is crucial in managing PD and I should see it as vital like taking medication.
On with the blog :
Pd Warrior is a new high intensity exercise class specifically for PD. In an earlier blog, I wrote about going to the PD Warrior training course for Physios in London Town. Well, we have finally found a local course.
Being (virtually) a non driver, and having a disabled bus pass (with carer pass), we got a free bus ride door to door.
Subsidised fee on the class – so doing well.
But then obviously we blew the budget on the cafe …
A circuit set up in a local leisure centre, overseen by an absolutely amazing, top notch, professional, yet friendly, physio* (yes, the physio does read the blog), including :
- Cycling
- Rowing
- Stepping over low hurdles.
- Boxing
- Throwing a soft ball against a wall and catching it.
- Throwing scarves in the air and catching.
- Doing squats
- Stretching a band
All seems quite ordinary and tame, however for maximum impact we needed to :
- Use big movements
- High intensity, pushing ourselves for a few minutes on each station
- Incorporate multi tasking – for example naming alphabetical lists whilst exercising
It was brilliant, some bits more difficult than others.
Top tips :
- When you are wearing boxing gloves, and your opponent is wearing ‘the hitting at’ boxing pads on their hands. Look your opponent in the eye and … when the opponent starts to sweat, ramp it down a notch 😉
Thank you tout la monde
Over and out …
