Strength Training & Parkinson's Disease

Strength training is where muscles work against an opposing force (such as lifting weights) to increase strength. These exercises overload the muscle until the point of muscle fatigue. This force and overload of a muscle then encourages the muscle to grow, increasing your strength over time. A certain weight or number of repetitions that you used to do may become easy over time, and you can progress to heavier weight or more repetitions. This is also known as progressive strength training 

Examples of Strength Training

Some typical exercises you may think of when talking about strength training include common weight lifting with dumbbells, using bench presses or squat racks with weight, or using gym machines like the leg press. Strength training can also include use of resistance bands or your own body weight to challenge yourself, such as doing air squats, lunges, abdominal crunches, and planks.

Common moves you may hear include: Bicep curls, tricep extensions, rows, squats, lunges, hamstring curls, quad extensions, calf raises, lat pull downs, crunches, planks… and hundreds of others. And sometimes the same exercise move may have more than one name. 

Please note: Some types of exercise fall into more than one category, like boxing, which can be considered strengthening due to the force you are implementing on the bag, but also an aerobic exercise and even balance training. Or yoga and pilates, which can be considered strengthening with holding your body weight in various positions, but also be considered flexibility, and balance training. These are great full body options that can help you check off multiple categories of exercise in one class.

Strength Training & PD

There are many reasons that strength training is important for the geriatric population and more specifically for the Parkinson’s population. It improves dynamic balance, which can reduce the risk of falls and hospitalizations. Posture is a common issue in PD that strength training can help, and research has even shown an improvement in bradykinesia, or slowness of movement. But most importantly, strength training aims to keep your body moving well, so you can continue with everyday tasks and maintain your independence. 

Strength Training Amount

The Parkinson’s Foundation in collaboration with the American College of Sports Medicine recommends strength training for 30 minutes 2 to 3 non-consecutive days per week. You should perform 10-15 repetitions of the strength exercise for major muscle groups. 

It’s important to give time for your muscles to recover. So for example, If on Monday you performed a lot of upper body exercises, when exercising on Wednesday, it would be best to focus on the lower body. You may also experience something called DOMs with strength training - DOMs stands for delayed onset muscle soreness and is completely normal, usually occurring 24-48 hours after exercise, especially in the beginning of your exercise journey.

Remember

There is no “one size fits all” exercise program, as this greatly depends on your symptoms and your safety. Always speak with your healthcare provider prior to starting a new routine. And as always, consistency with an exercise routine is key, so make sure it's an activity you enjoy!