Parkinson's Disease and Training for Strength

[stef]

by Dan McEachin

Dan McEachin, member of Greysteel Strength and Conditioning, describes his experience training with Starting Strength Coach Jonathon Sullivan and making strength gains while managing his Parkinson's.

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[MitchellCole]

Sully,

This is a great video. Have you had any issues with Parkinson's trainees losing balance during squats or dropping the barbell during a press/bench? Is it possible to see improvements in tremors or speech from strength training?

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Sully,

This is a great video. Have you had any issues with Parkinson's trainees losing balance during squats or dropping the barbell during a press/bench?

Not so far. We're pretty careful with all our Masters, but particularly folks with movement disorders (and we have several now). We've progressed Dan pretty judiciously, never loading weight we aren't 110% sure he can handle. This has moderated his progress...but then he hasn't been hurt either.

Is it possible to see improvements in tremors or speech from strength training?

No, I don't think so. There is no compelling evidence I'm aware of that any form of training or diet can meaningfully reverse or arrest the progression of a neurodegenerative disorder. I make this clear to clients upon assumption of training. The goal is to improve strength, balance, and function. To these purposes the training is quite powerful.

[carson]

Dan was quite the trooper when we moved. He carried many rather heavy things. One would not have known that he had Parkinson's.

[MitchellCole]

Thank you for the response! Beyond strength, do you see improved balance with these types of trainees? A family member of mine has tremors in both hands along with poor balance and difficulty sitting and standing. He trains, but not with exercises that require great balance like squats.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Thank you for the response! Beyond strength, do you see improved balance with these types of trainees?

Balance depends on strength and proprioception--both of which are trained deeply by standing barbell movements. So: Yes.

A family member of mine has tremors in both hands along with poor balance and difficulty sitting and standing. He trains, but not with exercises that require great balance like squats.

When an attribute is not trained, it cannot be expected to improve.

[jkolt]

Hi Sully,

People close to me with Parkinson's disease have told me that their doctors are concerned about a decline in flexibility with Parkinson's. Is this recommendation symptomatic of the wide-spread under appreciation of strength as a key factor in most forms of human health, or something else? Put different, does something about Parkinson's cause a decline in flexibility?

Does the Master's Trainer with Parkinson's require flexibility training beyond normal barbell training?

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Hi Sully,

Put different, does something about Parkinson's cause a decline in flexibility?

Weakness and movement dysfunction go hand-in-hand with decline in mobility--and balance, and power, and agility.

Does the Master's Trainer with Parkinson's require flexibility training beyond normal barbell training?

Not in my experience, but my experience is limited. Dan reports (and displays) significant improvement in mobility.

[industrialplaid]

Thank you so much for this. My dad is 68 and was just diagnosed with Parkinson's last year. He's been making some good progress doing the Rock Steady boxing program, but is definitely still struggling with some basic strength/balance issues.

I've been trying to get him to start doing some strength training, but he's very nervous about trying to do the movements without a coach. Is there anywhere in the vicinity of Manhattan, KS where he could access some coaching from an SS coach? I haven't seen anything on the search function, but I know there are more popping up from time to time. I've given him some basic instruction, but I live in Chicago so it's hard to monitor progress.

[Jeff Illingworth]

I was just watching this video and started to click through to the references, but it looks like all the links are broken. Did they "time out" or am I missing something?