oops - it should say "do you find to BE most helpful"

CM EXERCISES

THIS IS INPUT ONLY, NOT ADVICE.
MACHINES FOR PARKINSON'S CONDITION?
I DOUBT IT, THERE IS NO EASY WAY.
HARD WORK AND TOTAL COMMITTMENT IS THE ROAD I HAVE CHOOSEN. THERE ARE NO QUICK FIXES EITHER.

YOGA, TAI CHI, TABLE TENNIS AND BOWLS, THESE ARE THE ACTIVITIES I HAVE CHOOSEN.
I DO LOTS OF WALKING, THE VALUE OF WHICH SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED AND, I LAUGH A LOT. MY GREATEST ASSET IS MY ABILITY TO LAUGH AT MYSELF.

IT IS VITAL TO REMAIN ACTIVE, YET I DON'T USE OR LEAVE ALL MY ENERGY IN THE GYM OR IN THE TRAINING AREAS, NOR DO I WRAP MYSELF IN COTTON WOOL, AND I SET MYSELF NO LIMITATIONS.

GO WELL AND EASY ON YOURSELF CM, THIS IS A MARATHON NOT A SPRINT.

.

I have an recumbent bike that my children got for me. It is much easier on the joints, and easier to get on and off. My walking is not the best, so I feel this is good exercise for me.
Grandmajade

Aliveo, I love your attitude. And I agree with what you said 100%! Especially about the laughing part. If we can laugh at ourselves then life is good!!!

Grandmajade, thanks for your comment. That is good to know. Right now my major exercise is walking/running every morning. I also have toning and weight routines that I do every other day. But the bike sounds like a good thing too.

Sometimes I get cramping in my hands and toes. Does anyone know if there are exercises that help with the cramping?

BTW - I am a (young) grandma too lol Isn't it the best? My husband says having grandkids is the reward for having to be a parent! I agree - they are way more fun. And the best part - you get to give them back to the parents after you have enjoyed them.

Hi CM - in addition to hiking and tread mill when too hot outside I do a series of arobic, yoga and kick boxing exercises on the XBox Kinect system. If you have an XBox game system check out the Kinect system you can add. The video game for the excercise program is called You Fit and its just like having a personal trainer in your home working with you.
Also for your foot cramps there is a good foot massager out there that have rolling balls that massage your feet. You can also roll tennis balls under your feet (while sitting down) which give some relief as well.
Keep up your current energy level and you will do fine. Have fun!

A follow-up to my previous post. When hiking I use "treking poles". They are available at sporting good stores and vary in cost. They are tremendous in helping with balance and take stress off your knees. They also help you increase your stride and since your are working your arms in rythm with your walking it gives some upper body exercise. It also forces you to swing your arms since most of us lose that natural arm swing due to PD. I'll shut up now...haha

Hi CM-your husband is right-grandchildren are worth the trouble of raising children. I will become a great-grandma in October, so am trying my best to stay healthy enough to enjoy the little one.
I believe a positive outlook is very important, along with the support of family.

After spending several months on an exercise bike, I switched to walking and feel better now.

Hi CM, I would say that doing plenty of stretching exercises at any stage of PD will do you the world of good, they'll help you keep good flexibilty and suppleness.
I'm having physiotherapy sessions every Tuesday from now on for a while... one of my main problems is posture and she's given me a print-out sheet of all the different stretches etc.... to do... I didn't realise how stiff I'd become and find doing them really hard going, but I will persist as it's an ongoing thing.
I think I'll spoil myself and have a full body massage very soon, as my upper back is very stiff, and my lower back gives me hell at times.
I don't know of a special bike for PD, I should imagine a standard exercise bike will do just as good a job. As I said to you in another post, you seem to be doing all the right things, but please be careful and don't overdo do it or burn out.
You're at the start of a journey & you're learning more & more about yourself as time goes by, try and get to know your limitations etc... and conserve energy where you can.

I wish you well...

Yours Sincerely Dirky !!;O))xx

DesertRat (what a name ha ha) We have Wii - is there a similar program? I will have to look into it.
Going to dig in my closet and find that dusty roller massager that someone gave us for Christmas and I never used. Who knew it would some day be needed!!!!

Dirky - Good advise. You are right I am learning more about myself and other things too. More than I ever wanted to learn! ha ha

Please ignore my spelling - I never could spell write! (I did that one on purpose)

I know I sound like a new convert, but I tried for 4 years to figure out what would work for exercise including going to a personal trainer who claimed she "had worked with" Parkinson's before (beware and make them be specific: were they trained in specifics to work with Parkinson's and if so what program and make them describe how it works. If they can't rattle it off it is probably not the whole truth). Also went to a Physical Therapist on my list of insurance providers who said he had "worked with" Parkinson's and proceeded to damage instead of helping. He was oriented toward athletes and rehab for them and tried to apply that to tendons and joints receiving conflicting messages from my Parky brain. My neurologist sent me to the Lee Silverstein BIG Training program. It does not encompass all exercise, but will help you move effectively and give you exercises that can be applied in water for low impact resistance exercises, and from there you can add weights and other types of exercise after you have warmed up EVERY day with 8 quick and simple exercises. It takes a commitment of time to learn it, but we Parkies have to have some practice and repetition to get it going. My BIG program offers monthly followup gatherings to help us by running through the movements to keep us on track. You get a notebook with diagrams of the movements but if you aren't careful you'll modify it a little on your own, not realizing it. It's positive and fun. Don't wait for hard problems to make Parkinson's exercises a part of daily life. And others who have not had BIG training also report a variety of exercise approaches help, such as Piloties, Tai Chi, Yoga. All these are low impact. Best wishes and keep in touch to say what works for you!

I just brought HeavyD's post "Did anyone try my" up to the forefront - I read that when I first came on the site and it really got me going on exercise and especially weights. Walking really helps and running. When I walk I make sure my arms swing and i take big steps making sure I put my heels down first. It all helps but weight machines really stretch my muscles and makes me feel normal. I do everything light and do 15x 3 rounds - I use all the machines especially machines that allow arm and leg movement with weights (the ones with the pulleys and ones where I push or pull. You can tell I don't know what I'm doing but I ask at the Y and am learning. But most imp. I do it. Next I do pilates or yoga - ether one. Next I do zumba, kick boxing these make you move really fast and takes your limbs to positions they do not normally go which is very good - range of motion it is called. It is all good. Tai Chi is great - I do different classes so I do not get bored.

I'm sorry HeavyD's post is entitled "Has anyone tried my suggestion" I was just wondering if HeavyD is still around and posting. I think he meant to say in his post that he went from stage 3 to stage 2 instead of stage 2 to 3. He has another post that I cannot find right now that lays out his whole weight regime which is really good. But like I said I keep the weights light - do not want to hurt myself. If I hurt myself I cannot do any exercise so I try to "easy does it."

i was getting horrible cramping in the bottoms of my feet and legs. i read about a herb, gaba,, i have been taking it for a few months and really has helped me alot.