With Parkinson’s disease, the rib cage gets stiff and flexes forward. This causes a lack of rotation in the spine and makes twisting nearly impossible. When you fail to rotate in the upper back (thoracic spine), your body will compensate. This almost always results in shoulder or low back pain.
This easy, seated exercise is a great way to practice your rotation at home! It incorporates both slow and fast movements, plus it encourages extension in several joints, making it an important upper body exercise for people with PD. The best part is, it is seated, so everyone can do it and it takes no equipment!
Check out this video:
Here are the steps to do this easy, seated exercise:
- Start by sitting tall in a chair with hands and fingers extended fully (“Jazz Hands”).
- Extend one arm out to the side, keeping the hand open and fingers spread apart as far as you can.
- Rotate your trunk and “paint’ across your face with the arm and open palm to the side of the outstretched hand.
- As you do this, think tall. Don’t lean. Reach with the active arm until it matches the still arm and then reach beyond.
- Breathe and start to come back, keeping the hand extended.
- As you pass across your body, make sure your open palm is right in front of your face (as if to read a message written on your palm).
- Once your arm is bent all the way, rotate in that same direction and quickly extend the arm.
- Repeat with the opposite arm.
- Do this complete exercise 5 times each day.
Try this exercise in combination with last week’s rotation exercise for double the benefit!
- 💜 Kimberly