Health / exercise
Staying fighting fit despite Parkinson’s disease
PD Warrior is a ten-week course that uses various exercises to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, a cognitive disease that affects movement. While regular classes have already been running at Southmead’s Bristol Brain Centre, led by Alistair MacFarlane and Kev Fry, the two instructors have also started running weekly classes at Henbury Leisure Centre to help people who’ve completed the course to keep up with the exercises.
PD Warrior was started in 2012 in Australia by two neurological physiotherapists, Melissa McConaghy and Lynn Tullock, who have almost 30 years’ experience working with Parkinson’s patients between them.
The aim is to use high-intensity exercise to slow the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms, and studies conducted in Australia and the UK show it to be very effective in helping people with walking, dexterity and fine motor control – key things that people with Parkinson’s often struggle with – making life easier when it comes to tasks like ironing and gardening.
is needed now More than ever
The PD Warrior class at Henbury involves high-intensity activities like boxing punches
PD Warrior classes have only come to the UK relatively recently, with the first instructor course held in 2015, and while provision remains very limited, classes in Bristol are popular and sessions regularly book up.
It’s a hot Wednesday afternoon and the class at Henbury Leisure Centre is in full swing. After a warmup, the participants get stuck into a circuit of activities, like catching a handkerchief which is helpful for reach, and boxing punches against soft pads to help coordination.
“I think it’s held back s0me of my symptoms and helped to improve others,” says John, one of the participants, and its a feeling that everyone shares: this course has been hugely beneficial. “The test for me was before I went in to the class I used to find great difficulty locking up my bike, and when I came out it was easy,” says fellow participant Nadia. “I would recommend it to anyone that has Parkinson’s as it’s very tailored towards specific things people with struggle with.”
The class also helps with fine motor skills
“The results we’ve seen kind of blew us away,” says instructor Alistair MacFarlane. “After the ten-week course, we were already seeing improvements in walking further, walking faster, better walking gait, better dexterity and reducing the time taken to do each activity. We weren’t expecting that after only ten weeks: we thought maybe a year down the line we’d start to see that.”
Participants say they have also found the classes beneficial socially as well as physically. According to Elaine, a participant: “It’s been great. It’s very nice meeting other people with Parkinson’s, because people are very supportive of each other and you can talk to someone who understands how you feel.”
The ten-week courses are run at Southmead Hospital and are booked until January. The classes at Henbury run on a Monday at 4pm and Wednesdays at midday. Find out more information at www.facebook.com/PDWarriorBristolUK
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