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Parkinson’s disease can stiffen the muscles in your chest and shoulders, causing you to stoop forward. With a stooped posture, your shoulder blades can’t sit or glide normally on the ribs. This can result in pain in your upper back and shoulders.

Routinely encouraging your shoulders, shoulder blades, and spine to move is crucial to counteracting stooped posture and relieving the pain associated with it. Maintaining an upright posture will also promote normal breathing and improve your heart and gut function.

Bringing your elbows up while relaxing your shoulders is difficult for most people with Parkinson’s. Your shoulder blades (scapula) and arm bones (humerus) must work together in a simultaneous, synchronized pattern.

This basic beginner “Upright Row Stick Stretch” is great for stretching your shoulders and upper back and regaining valuable range of motion.

Continue reading “Do You Have Parkinson’s Shoulder Stiffness? Do the Stick Row!”

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 overhead and swinging your arms out to the side is a complex movement, requiring the coordination of multiple parts of your skeleton. Your shoulder blades (scapula) and arm bones (humerus) must work together in a simultaneous, synchronized pattern.

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.

The “Pendulum Stick Stretch” exercise is great for stretching your shoulders and upper back and regaining valuable range of motion.

Continue reading “Must-do Pendulum Stick Stretch for Parkinson’s Stooped Posture”

Here we are: the full routine in this series to get everyone up and moving! No more sitting for hours on end. Being sedentary will make your Parkinson’s progress more quickly.

Many of our new fighters tell me they sat too much last year and watched TV, their backs hurt, and they were too tired to exercise. It’s a vicious cycle: the more you sit, the stiffer you get, and then you don’t feel like exercising.

Here is a great six-step routine to get you out of your chair and moving. You can still sit and watch a show, but you must take fitness breaks! This routine works your whole body and brain. It addresses freezing, creates more power in your hips, promotes flexibility, and uses your voice.

Continue reading “Six Must-do Steps to Combat Parkinson’s Decline”

We are off to a great start! Those who watched my seated chair hinging video (listed below) wanted more.

Here is a request from one of my readers: “Hi Kimberly, now that you taught us how to sit properly, it might be helpful to show us how to stand properly, either to prevent falls, or to be more active.”

Continue reading “Why You Must Do the Sit-to-Stand Exercise if You Have Parkinson’s”

You might be thinking, “I don’t have time for exercise,” or “I’m too tired to do this every day.” Maybe you’re wondering, “What’s the bare-bones minimum amount of exercise I need to do?” Unfortunately, this approach will NOT get you the results you need or want.

A better response is: “Put me in, Coach!!!”  How much, what kind, how long, and how often? Answering these questions will help you slow down this disease so that you can get your life back.

Check your current exercise routine. Be honest: are you doing all of the things you need to create brain change and slow down Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “These 10 Exercise Components Are Needed To Slow Down Parkinson’s”