One of my fighters asked me for an exercise someone with Parkinson’s could do on a plane or long car ride to offset the stiffness that happens when they sit for too long. I gave him a simple solution for stiffness that comes with two additional benefits: it can help prevent blood clots in your legs and strengthen your glutes to help with balance. Wow! Best of all, anyone can do it, and everyone should.

I want you to do this exercise any time you are sitting for longer than 30 minutes. You need to take “Glute Squeeze” breaks. Yes, even while sitting and watching TV!

I recently received another great request from my readers: “Kimberly, would you do a video of a simple, quick stretch for my upper back that I can do at my desk?”

Yes, here you go! This one is quick, easy, and feels really good. Best of all, you don’t have to get on the floor.

A major complaint from people with Parkinson’s is lower back pain. This is often the result of trying to twist a stiff, stooped upper back (a common symptom of Parkinson’s). When the upper back is stiff, the lower back takes over the rotation, which it’s not designed to do. The result is a painful or hurt lower back.

When you add activities that require a lot of twisting and bending, like gardening, you have a recipe for lower back pain that can last for days or weeks.

The key is setting up your garden area to avoid the temptation to work too long without taking an Extension Break.

Hand and finger stiffness is a huge problem for people with Parkinson’s. It affects your daily tasks, making everything more difficult. Working on your hands daily is a must! If you can make it fun and see results, it’s really rewarding.

When I asked my class to form a heart with their hands for a picture, I noticed most of the class couldn’t get their fingers to respond. This happens for various reasons—stiffness in fingers and arms, lack of proprioception (knowing where your body is in space), or difficulty with the brain sequencing a task.

We often take the simplest tasks for granted. My fighters who have had PD longer, had the most trouble with this.

Twice this week I’ve evaluated people who reported brain fog as being their most discouraging symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Both of the individuals were highly functional, had PD for less than 5 years, yet reported really struggling with the tasks that their work and hobbies required. One person said it was really scary and actually lead to them experiencing panic attacks.

Here are 10 simple, common sense tips that I recommend that my clients have found helpful: