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A gentleman with stooped posture from Parkinson’s recently came in for a personal training session complaining of lower back pain. He showed me a list of exercises someone gave him, and on it were “Wall Leans.”

I asked him to show me what this exercise was. He said, “You know, the one where you straighten up against the wall.”  He then went to the wall, turned his back, and went through the steps. Heels against the wall, touching your back and head to the wall. Then he said, “It hurts my back more and I’m afraid I’ll fall forward.”

Of course it hurt his back! And yes, he was pitched “falling” forward.

Continue reading “Using a Wall to Correct Stooped Posture? Think again!”

One of my fighters with Parkinson’s told me he wanted to lose some weight he had gained in the last couple of years. He developed a detailed spreadsheet and started tracking everything that he thought affected his health and his PD symptoms. For instance:

• Food intake (what and how much)
• Exercise (what kind and how long)
• Water intake
• Hours slept
• Hours watching TV
• His medication timing and doses
• PD symptoms (bradykinesia, tremor, stiffness, etc.) and their severity

There is a saying: “You can’t improve what you don’t track.”

He was surprised at the results. He said he knew he was eating too much, so he cut down on his caloric intake and lost over 25 pounds and still had more to lose.

Continue reading “How Does Watching Television Affect Your Parkinson’s Symptoms?”

I get pictures and emails all the time from my fighters with Parkinson’s thanking us for training them to do the things they love so they can keep their independence. We teach exercises based on real-life scenarios, like spending a day at the beach, walking on different textures of sand, picking up a shell, and stepping over a log.

Continue reading “For Your Body To Properly Function, You Need Functional Training”

Gardening can certainly cause a host of aches and pains. Why? Because it requires us to twist, bend, and reach, and causes us to spend too much time in precarious positions that are not healthy for our bodies. This is all compounded by the limited window of fair-weather opportunities we have here in the Northwest. Today we are continuing our spring series on how to set up your garden and position your body to avoid lower back pain.

Continue reading “How To Stretch And Move Safely While Gardening If You Have Parkinson’s – Part 2”

Tight hip flexors are a huge problem with Parkinson’s disease. Many people with Parkinson’s complain of hip and back issues that stem from a tight psoas muscle. It’s a hard muscle to stretch, and oftentimes you strain your back trying to stretch it.

The psoas is a major hip flexor muscle that performs several complex actions, like lifting your legs and bending forward. It is the only muscle that connects the spine to the leg. You can see why when this muscle gets tight it causes so many balance, posture, and gait issues.

Continue reading “How To Do A Seated Hip Flexor Stretch If You Have Parkinson’s”