GYROTONIC® Exercise for Parkinson’s Disease
I will begin this post by stating the obvious: I am not a doctor.
I am however, a personal trainer with a parent that has Parkinson’s Disease, so I will share with you what I have seen and what I know to be true for me.
When I moved north about 5 years ago and my Mom started taking Gyrotonic sessions with me I began to notice things about her that I hadn’t before. I noticed that she shuffled when she walked and that she stooped over a bit. Not in a way that would be obvious to most people but I could see it was outside of her “normal”. She also had difficulty straightening her left arm all the way and it was also fairly weak. When doing leg work the toes on her left foot would clench tightly and if she tried to kick her legs as if doing a flutter kick in the pool, her left leg would slow down and then freeze up as she tried harder and harder to make it move.
Once my Mom was officially diagnosed by a neurologist as having PD, I became aware that her symptoms were textbook early(ish) stage PD. From that moment on my Mom made a complete commitment to 3 days a week of Gyrotonic lessons and to her morning walk.
For about a year, my Mom held off taking any medication to help her symptoms, then eventually went on a low dose medication that helped her enough for another year or two. Then, about a year ago when the disease seemed to be effecting some tasks of daily life she started taking Levidopa/Carbidopa. Many patients go onto the medication as soon as they get diagnosed with PD. However, my Mom an I both feel quite strongly that it is mainly the Gyrotonic exercise that helped keep the symptoms of PD at bay and has prolonged her need for medication and prolonged the need for higher doses.
WHY DOES GYROTONIC EXERCISE HELP?
We know that PD is a progressive disease and that there is no cure.
Again, I am not a doctor, yet here is what I know: PD causes the body to contract inwardly. We see this when the patient with PD stoops - this is the spine coming into flexion. A hand may stay contracted in a fist or a loose fist - this is the muscles of the hand contracting. The gait gets smaller and the walk becomes a shuffle - therefore the legs contract more. An arm stays bent - the bicep muscle is in contraction.
The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® is a system that encourages opening of the body, and by default creates a lengthening of the muscles as a result of a constant alternating of expansion and contraction.
The system also uses weights and pulleys to build strength.
THE BIG OPPORTUNITY
The medications that help the symptoms of PD are a blessing for those who have the disease. I see how the medicine allows my Mom to live her life without having to give much up, at least for now. HOWEVER, if her body was not “prepared” the drugs would not do as much. A muscle that is never stretched is a muscle that is tight and short. So while the opportunity exists -aka the drugs are working- one can take advantage of that opportunity and use the time to attend to the body and open it and strengthen it. Stretching and strengthening is absolutely crucial for people with PD! I do not know any other movement system that encourages opening of the front of the body as much as Gyrotonic exercise does. I wish I could shout this information out to the world so everyone with PD would know that by doing Gyrotonic exercise (and of course, Gyrokinesis) they could greatly improve their life.
Last week my Mom went to her yearly check up with her neurologist and he told her that if he did not know her, he would not have suspected that she has Parkinson’s Disease! He encouraged her to keep up what she is doing to stay so mobile and fluid and strong. - I’m smiling just writing this last paragraph. Spread the word……..Gyrotonic Exercise for Parkinson’s Disease!
