Parkinson’s and Exercise – 7 Reliable Exercises for Awesome Results

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Why is Exercise Important with Parkinson’s

If you are living with Parkinson’s Disease, then you have probably been told by your doctor about the importance of maintaining a regular exercise schedule.

To many, the thought of exercise elicits feelings of anxiousness, fear, and dread.

These feelings are understandable because most people living with Parkinson’s experience stiffness and rigidity, balance issues, and often pain.

Many fear that exercise will exacerbate these issues. However, research shows that exercise provides benefits that can help improve your quality of life with better mobility, flexibility, and strength.

Why is exercise so important for Parkinson’s Disease? Let’s look at some specific benefits.

Disclaimer: It is essential that you review any exercise program with your physician prior to starting to ensure that it is appropriate for your specific needs and health status.

Exercise Improves Motor Symptoms

Parkinson’s Disease is most often noted for the motor symptoms it causes

• Tremor
• Bradykinesia (slowness of movement)
• Gait (walking issues)
• Stooped Posture
• Balance issues
• Stiffness and rigidity

While medications are used to help control or ease motor symptoms, exercise can play a key role in working in tandem to help control motor symptoms.

Studies have shown improvements in the following motor symptoms (study references can be found at the end of the article).

• Balance
  • Studies have shown that PD patients who participate in a combination of both aerobic activities and strength and resistance training have demonstrated improvements in their motor symptoms including their gait, balance, and strength.
• Gait and Speed
  • A study evaluating the effects of low-intensity exercises using a treadmill showed significant improvements in Gait and Speed.
• Muscle Strength
  • Studies have shown that a combination of resistance exercises and stretching showed significant improvements in muscle strength which are important for Gait, Balance and Posture and Stiffness

It is important to remember to pick activities that you enjoy when exercising. After all, you are more likely to continue exercising if you enjoy what you are doing. Ultimately, it’s all about consistency.

From a personal standpoint, living with Parkinson’s for almost 14 years, I use the following exercise program which has helped me maintain an active lifestyle, improved my balance, gait, and posture, and helped to control my motor symptoms.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – My Personal Exercise Program

You’re probably thinking to yourself that I have a good variety of activities to help with different physical needs, but “How do I know if I have improvements in Flexibility, Rigidity, and Strength?” Good question

Fortunately, there are some easy at-home tests to measure flexibility using the

• Sit and Reach
  • As the name suggests, this simple test has a person sit with their legs straight in front of them with their legs slightly spread and measures the length of their reach.
  • Measurements are taken at baseline and specific time points to see if improvements are made in reach distance. Increases in reach mean increases in flexibility.
• Toe Touch –
  • This test requires you to bend over at the waist, and while keeping your legs straight as possible and reaching to touch your toes.
  • Measurements are taken at baseline and specific time points to measure the improvements in reach. Improvements in distance stretched result in increased flexibility.

References: Home Fitness Test – Test Yourself At Home

Parkinson’s and Exercise – My Flexibility Test Results

For more information on the benefits of exercise on Parkinosn’s Disease read my articles

Parkinson’s and Exercise Improves Non-Motor Symptoms

While most people recognize Parkinson’s motor symptoms, it’s often the non-motor symptoms that can cause the most detrimental effects on a person with Parkinson’s quality of life.

Parkinson’s and exercise can have positive effects on the following non-motor symptoms (references to the studies can be found at the end of the article.)

• Depression and anxiety
  • Exercise helps release endorphins which are neurotransmitters that help provide a positive feeling helping to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. You may have heard of the “runners high”.
  • Studies have shown that people living with Parkinson’s can participate in long-term group exercise programs. These showed not only significant improvements in maintaining an exercise program but also significant improvements in depression.
• Sleep Disturbances
  • Exercise helps to expend energy and can help improve both the quality and quantity of sleep.
• Cognitive Function
  • Exercise has been shown to help improve and maintain cognitive function in people living with Parkinson’s
• Fatigue and Apathy
  • Exercise helps improve feelings of fatigue and apathy
• Quality of Life Through Improved Social Interactions
  • Exercising with others helps form bonds and social connections that can help to manage depression and anxiety often associated with Parkinson’s Disease.

For additional information on Parkinson’s and Fatigue and Improving Social Interactions, read my articles

Parkinson’s and Exercise – 7 Best Types of Exercises for Parkinson’s

I hope by now you are seeing that exercise can have a major impact on improving both motor and non-motor symptoms and improve a person’s quality of life.

To help you prepare an exercise plan to share with your doctor, I created an Exercise Roadmap that has the exercise types filled in and the remainder of the roadmap is for you to personalize and use to track your progress.

But you may be thinking to yourself, “I see the benefits of exercise, but what are the best types for people living with Parkinson’s?”

I’m glad you asked yourself that question, because listed below are the 7 best types of exercise for helping you maintain a good quality of life.

1. Tai Chi
   • A practice that involves, slow gentle movements, while simultaneously controlling breathing and incorporating mental relaxation.
   • Tai chi can be used by people with Parkinson’s to improve strength, flexibility, and balance.
   • Reference: 11 Ways Tai Chi Can Benefit Your Health, Healthline, May 14, 2018
2. Yoga
   • “Yoga is an ancient practice that combines physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation to improve overall health. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root “yuj”, which means “to yoke” or “to unite”. The practice aims to create a union between the body, mind, and spirit.” Source: Yoga, Yogapedia, April 23, 2020.
   • Yoga can be used to improve strength, flexibility, and balance, and improve motor and non-motor symptoms.
3. Pilates
   • Pilates are controlled, structured strength training exercises designed to help build muscle tone, and improve flexibility and balance. Reference: Pilates: What it is and Health Benefits, Cleveland Clinic, March 10. 2023.
   • Pilates while difficult provides several benefits to Parkinson’s patients including improving strength, flexibility, and balance.
4. Aerobic Exercise
   • Exercises designed to improve cardiovascular function (e.g. walking, cycling, swimming, dancing)
   • Aerobic exercises can help improve gait, posture, and balance
5. Strength Training
   • Exercises designed to build muscle strength and tone
   • Strength training can utilize body weight, weights, weight machines, and common household items.
   • Strength training helps build muscle tone, and strength and can help with balance by developing strong core muscles
6. Aquatic Exercise
   • Includes lap swimming, open water swimming, and water aerobics
   • Helps with cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and balance
7. Dancing
   • Helps with mental cognition by having to remember dance sequences
   • Helps with Balance, especially when working with your dance partner

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Specific Exercises for the Best Types of Exercise

Before we delve into the specific exercises for the best types of exercise, I wanted to make a short public service announcement.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Public Service Announcement

It is essential that you review any exercise program with your physician to ensure that it is appropriate for your specific needs and health status.

Once your physician has approved your exercise plan, and if you are new to exercise, I would recommend seeking the help of a professional trainer to help design a specific exercise program for your needs.

Secondly, joining a fitness center and participating in group fitness or small group classes that focus on the 7 best exercise types is a great option for a quality workout from each class.

Important Note: All of the exercises below can be modified to meet your physical fitness status, skill level, and current health condition. Seek the help of a certified fitness instructor for exercise modifications. Please ensure you are being supervised during your exercise sessions to prevent falls or injuries.

Well, it’s nice to learn about the best types of exercise for people living with Parkinson’s but you may be confused about where to start or what specific activities you need to do to get the benefits of exercise.

So, let’s look at specific exercises for each of the 7 Best exercises listed above to provide a starting point to begin your exercise journey.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Tai Chi

As a beginner, I would recommend attending a Tai Chi class with a certified Tai Chi instructor. However, if this is not feasible, you can do Tai Chi exercises in the comfort of your home and realize all of its benefits.

You may be thinking, “How do I do Tai Chi at home if I have never done it before?” Good question!

There are a number of quality Tai Chi videos available for free on YouTube that enable you to participate in Tai Chi for Parkinson’s Patients in the comfort of your own home by following the lead of the trained video instructor.

To make things easy, below is an 8-minute Tai Chi program from the Brian Grant Foundation (Brian Grant is a former NBA Basketball player who developed Parkinson’s Disease and retired early from the sport). He started the Brian Grant Foundation to help others with Parkinson’s Disease.

This Tai Chi Boot Camp will help familiarize you with some of the basic Tai Chi moves. You can add more Tai Chi moves from additional online instructors as you become more comfortable with Tai Chi movements.

At a minimum, you want to try to incorporate the Tai Chi moves listed below into your Tai Chi sessions as you progress with Tai Chi to help with Balance, Flexibility, strength, and posture.

• Single Whip
• Blocking Hand
• Drawing the Silk
• Hand Blocking
• Hand motions
• Brush the Knee and Palm Strike
• Rooster

To learn more use the link Friday Fitness: Tai Chi for Parkinson’s Disease which has a demonstration of all the Tai Chi moves listed above by Dr. Michael Braitsch, Physical Therapist (PT).

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Pilates

People living with Parkinson’s are often fearful of starting an exercise program or joining group fitness classes because they feel embarrassed believing they aren’t capable of doing specific types of exercise.

When in fact, and not to keep repeating myself, all forms of exercise can be modified to meet your specific health needs.

Pilates is a group of exercises that exercises that involves stretching, flexibility, and balance. Pilates works on the abdominal muscles or “core” which are the muscles that play a key role in our posture and balance.

I would highly recommend taking a group fitness class or personal training session with a certified trainer to help with Pilate poses and movement.

It’s not that these exercises are extremely difficult, it is preferred that they are done while being supervised to ensure you’re using the proper form to prevent injury and falls.

Also, guidance from others helps ensure the exercises are done correctly so you achieve maximum benefit from each exercise.

Pilates moves are designed to be conducted in different positions and focus on different areas which include:

• Abdominal
• Buttocks
• Supine
• Lying
• Side
• Stretching
• Kneeling

Before you panic and say I can’t do exercises lying down, for example, you can select exercises from this list that best suit your physical and health needs and skill level.

Some common exercises include:

• Single leg lift
• Bicycle legs
• Double leg lift
• Side Plank
• AB Raises or Bridges

Below is a 10 minute video for Pilates for Beginners to give you some examples of Pilate exercises.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Yoga

Yoga has been around for thousands of years and is a series of body-weight exercises that help to improve balance, strength, flexibility, mental cognition and provide a sense of well-being.

There are many different types of yoga. As with Tai Chi, and Pilates, I would recommend participating in a group Yoga class where you have both supervision and you are learning the correct form and posture for each yoga move to prevent injury and recognize maximum benefit.

Typical exercises that you do in a Yoga class include:

• Standing Fold or Bend
• Upward Dog
• Downward Dog
• Cow and Cat
• Child’s Pose
• Triangle pose

The basic Yoga poses are beneficial for Parkinson’s patients because they improve flexibility, strength, balance and posture.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic Exercise? What does Aerobic mean? Aerobic means with or requiring oxygen.

So, aerobic exercise is designed to help improve your cardiovascular (heart and lungs) fitness level while at the same time helping to improve your Balance, Gait, speed, and strength.

There have been studies that show that low-intensity Treadmill and cycling are great aerobic exercises for helping with Parkinson’s symptoms.

A study at the University of Maryland showed that low-intensity treadmill training showed significant improvements in both a Parkinson’s patient’s gait and speed.

In a cycling study, Dr. Alberts, at the Clevland Clinic, tested patients on a stationary bike.

The study evaluated two parameters high cadence (or RPMs) and forced cycling.

The study found that initially Parkinson’s patients typically pedaled between 40-60 revolutions per minute (RPM).

The research team then forced the participants to pedal at 80-90 RPM for 40 minutes, 3 times per week. Essentially doubling the pace they were accustomed to pedaling.

The results of the study were impressive showing a 35% improvement in motor function in this test group.

Reference: MDS 2009: Forced Exercise Provides Benefit Similar to Levodopa in Parkinson’s Disease

While low-intensity walking on a treadmill and forced cycling showed very good results, they are by no means the only types of aerobic exercise to help slow the progression of the disease.

Other great options for Parkinson’s and exercise include:

• Swimming – lap or open water
• Boxing
• Walking at a brisk pace
• Hiking
• Dancing or Zumba

It is important when choosing aerobic exercise to select things you enjoy doing so you can do them on a consistent basis.

It’s also recommended that you participate in several kinds of aerobic exercise to utilize different muscle groups, build different neural connections with different activities, and prevent boredom.

Try to participate in aerobic activities at least 3 times per week.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Strength Training

Strength training is a vital part of any Parkinson’s and exercise program because it helps to build and maintain muscle, helps improve your balance and stability, improves flexibility, and helps to improve your gait.

One of the benefits of strength training is that you can utilize both fitness equipment (dumbells, kettlebells, weight machines) or simply use your body weight or common household items to build strength.

Wait a minute, you’re telling me I can use my body weight and household items for strength training? Yes that’s right!

Specific strength training exercises you can do using your body weight can include

• Bent knee or straight leg push-ups
• Squats
• Leg Lifts
• Lunges
• Chair Dips for triceps
• Calf raises
• Ab Bridges

In addition to bodyweight exercises, common household items like canned goods, empty luggage, milk jugs, water bottles, books, etc. can all be used to build strength.

Exercises using common household items include:

• Arm curls
• Shoulder Press
• Tricep Extensions
• Chest Press or Chest Fly’s
• Rows
• Squats
• Shoulder shrugs

If you are new to strength training visit a fitness center and have a certified trainer design a program that meets your specific needs. Group fitness classes, such as Silver Sneakers are also a great way to participate in strength training.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Aquatic Exercise

Aquatic exercise is a great way for people living with Parkinson’s to build strength and cardiovascular endurance, improve flexibility, and help maintain balance.

One of the major benefits of water exercise is that is easy on the joints and can be done at any age or fitness level.

Water exercises can include:

• Flexibility and Toning
• Water aerobics
• Aqua Zumba
• Aqua Yoga

Select a water exercise class that meets both your physical and fitness needs.

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Dancing

Dancing is a great way to improve balance, flexibility, gait, and mental cognition.

Learning dance moves helps build neural connections and memory, and its beneficial in helping to maintain and improve balance and flexibility.

One of the benefits of dancing is that it can be done alone with another person or in a group setting.

Dancing is a great way to build and maintain social interactions which are important in helping people with Parkinson’s to stay engaged and active in their community to help prevent isolation and depression.

There are a variety of different types of dancing to choose from (e.g., Tango, Ballroom Dancing, Line dancing, square dancing).

Choose one or several types of dances or classes and have fun expressing yourself.

Interested in learning more? Get my Book Spectacular Life – 4 Strategies for Living an Exceptional Life with Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s and Exercise – Summary

Parkinson’s and exercise go hand in hand.

If you have Parkinson’s and exercise you will realize a host of benefits in helping to improve both motor and non-motor symptoms.

The two most important things with exercise are to select things you enjoy and do them consistently. You will only get the benefits of exercise if you do it on a consistent basis.

Parkinson’s and exercise offers you the opportunity not only to help slow your disease progression and improve your symptoms but also to make social connections through exercising with friends and family or participating in group fitness classes.

So, don’t wait, review your exercise roadmap with your doctor and get started. You’ll not only feel better physically but mentally as well.

I wish you the best of luck on your exercise journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Parkinson’s and Exercise References

Motor Symptoms

Balance

van der Kolk NM, King LA. Effects of exercise on mobility in people with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord. 2013 Sep 15;28(11):1587-96. doi: 10.1002/mds.25658. PMID: 24132847

Gait and Speed

Shulman, L. M., Katzel, L. I., Ivey, F. M., Sorkin, J. D., Favors, K., Anderson, K. E., Smith, B. A., Reich, S. G., Weiner, W. J., & Macko, R. F. (2013). Randomized Clinical Trial of 3 Types of Physical Exercise for Patients With Parkinson Disease. JAMA Neurology, 70(2), 183. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.646

Non – Motor Symptoms

Depression and Anxiety

Effects of a formal exercise program on Parkinson’s disease: a pilot study using a delayed start design. A Park, Zid D, Russell J, et al. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2014;20:106–

Effect of Physical Activity on Depression in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Tian, J., Kang, Y., Liu, P., & Yu, H. (2022). Effect of Physical Activity on Depression in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6849. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116849

Effect of Physical Activity on Depression in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Tian, J., Kang, Y., Liu, P., & Yu, H. (2022). Effect of Physical Activity on Depression in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6849. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116849

Sleep Disturbances

Effects of Exercise on Sleep in Neurodegenerative Disease, Memon, A. A., Coleman, J. J., & Amara, A. W. (2020). Effects of Exercise on Sleep in Neurodegenerative Disease. Neurobiology of Disease, 140, 104859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2020.104859

Cognitive Function

Murray, D. K., Sacheli, M. A., Eng, J. J., & Stoessl, A. J. (2014). The effects of exercise on cognition in Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review. Translational Neurodegeneration, 3, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-9158-3-5

Exercise Reference

Exercise for Parkinson’s Disease: Essential Facts for Patients, International Parkinson’s Movement Disorder Society

Post written by Chris Kustanbauter, Liveparkinsons.com. I reside in York, PA with my wife and 2 Adopted rescue Boxer dogs, Duke and Katie. For additional articles visit my Blogs page. Please contact me with questions or comments on my Contact Me page. Get my book Spectacular Life – 4 Essential Strategies for Living with Parkinson’s Disease