Tight hip flexors are a huge problem for people with Parkinson’s disease. Many of my fighters complain of hip and back issues that stem from tight psoas and other hip flexor muscles.
Continue reading “How to Use Balls to Release Tight Parkinson’s Hip Flexors”
My clients ask for an easy stretch they can do in the morning or evening that will help with the rounding forward posture and back pain Parkinson’s disease can cause. It’s very common so I started doing this exercise with all my private clients and integrating it into my boxing classes. It’s easy and gets to those pesky psoas muscles that get overly tight especially on people with PD.
Continue reading “Beginner Hip Flexor Stretch for Parkinson’s”My Early Bird Young Onset boxing class often see me rolling out my feet when they arrive to class. They ask me, “Oh, do your feet hurt?” My answer is, “No, I’m preventing that from happening.” This is a routine I do every morning and night to prevent foot pain and cramps.
Do not take your feet and ankles for granted. You put all your weight on them and expect them to track correctly as you walk, stand, lunge, jump, and even bike. Your feet help calibrate the alignment of the rest of your body. The bones of your feet move with every step influencing how your ankles, knees, hips and spine move and align with one another.
With Parkinson’s Disease feet can cramp, pain, tingle, tremor, pronate, curl up, and collapse due to neuromuscular disconnect, tight tissue, and faulty gait mechanics. Why would you ignore such an important part of your body which can affect your balance and quality of life? You must treat your feet.
Continue reading “Hamstrings and Calves Tight Due To Parkinson’s? Address Your Feet!”
I hear this often “I just don’t feel like moving,” or “My husband sits all day long and doesn’t want to get up and even go for a walk.” It’s not just men, it’s the ladies too. Between computers, T.V., driving, eating, and just having low energy from Parkinson’s causes us to sit too much.
It’s a vicious cycle, Parkinson’s causes low energy and apathy, you give into it by sitting, then the sitting causes a variety of maladies including tight muscles and back pain, so you don’t feel like being active because your back hurts.
Take a “movement” break every 30 minutes. In a published study of nearly 8,000 adults, Annals of Internal Medicine found that sitting for excessively long periods of time is a risk factor for early death, and people who sat for less than 30 minutes at a time had the lowest risk of early death. Continue reading “Find and Activate Your Glutes “Squeeze Your Bum, Bum, Bum” for Parkinson’s”
I notice my dancers and fighters struggle to get their arms over their head. Most likely this is due to rounded, stooped posture of Parkinson’s. In addition to tight chest muscles, tight Latissimus dorsi “Lats” are most likely a culprit in this limited motion.
Latissimus dorsi means “broadest muscle of the back,” is one of the widest muscles in the human body. It is a very thin triangular muscle. It has many widespread origins and runs obliquely, superiorly and laterally through the back and armpits to insert on the back side of the upper arm. The lats also connect to the lumbar spine, and assist with lower back movements. Continue reading “How to Roll Out Your Lats for Parkinson’s Tight Shoulders”