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Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is very common in people with Parkinson’s. This condition causes pain, stiffness, and loss of normal range of motion in the shoulder.

For people with Parkinson’s, frozen shoulder can come out of nowhere and slowly get worse if not treated. Often, a frozen, painful shoulder occurs because it has been immobilized for a long time by injury, surgery, or illness. Fortunately, the shoulder can usually be unfrozen! Full recovery takes time and a lot of home exercise.

Routinely encouraging your shoulders, shoulder blades, and spine to move is crucial to counteracting shoulder stiffness and pain.

Continue reading “Do You Have Stiff, Painful Parkinson’s Shoulders? Do This Easy Dowel Stretch”

Strong glutes are vital for everyone, and especially if you have Parkinson’s. Your glutes are a very important muscle group for many reasons: they help balance your gait and stance, prevent falls, improve posture, and prevent back, hip, and knee problems. However, most of my private and group clients with back, hip, or knee pain couldn’t fire their glutes when we first started working together. This is very common!

Continue reading “Got Parkinson’s? Activate Your Glutes with Bridges and Hoops!”

Stepping big to do a proper lunge can be very difficult for people with Parkinson’s Disease for multiple reasons. To try and keep their balance, people often take a baby step forward and then lean forward without bending their back knee. As a result, they lean forward with their trunk, which brings the front knee way over their ankle, and causes a great amount of shearing stress on their knee.

I came up with this “Ultimate Supported Lunge” by borrowing a yoga supported warrior pose. This great exercise puts you in the perfect lunge position and promotes a number of things that are good for your body at the same time.

Continue reading “Treat Parkinson’s Balance and Flexibility Using the Ultimate Supported Lunge”

This breathing exercise is a great way to regulate and address shallow breathing caused by anxiety, a common symptom with Parkinson’s. I used it first when I worked in hospital pulmonary rehabilitation, then added it in my Parkinson’s wellness retreats, and now it’s a warm-up in Rebel Fit Club’s Posture School.

If you are not breathing correctly and fully, a host of problems can arise, such as pneumonia, brain fog, and increased inflammation. This is why after you have surgery, a therapist will come into your room and help you breathe deeply.

Continue reading “Do This Breathing Exercise To Calm Your Nervous System if You Have Parkinson’s”

When Parkinson’s makes you feel stiff and causes your posture to stoop forward, a cascade of problems occurs, leading to pain and mobility issues. Routinely encouraging your shoulders, shoulder blades, and spine to move is crucial to counteracting the stooped posture and associated pain that are common in Parkinson’s disease.

Reaching your arms overhead is a complex movement, requiring the coordination of multiple parts of your skeleton. Your shoulder blade (scapula) and arm bone (humerus) have to work together in a simultaneous, synchronized pattern.

Your shoulder blades should “glide and float” on your rib cage. If you have a stooped posture, your shoulder blades can’t sit or glide normally on the ribs, causing pain in your upper back and shoulders.

This simple, basic stick exercise is great for stretching your shoulders and upper back.

Continue reading “Do this Stick Stretch for Parkinson’s Stooped Posture”