the primary symptoms of parkinson's that may be helped by exercise are slowness of movement stiffness and loss of balance and posture and so exercises that improve these should be done. for improvement of balance try standing exercises as part of your pilates workout whether you are working on a mat or the equipment. standing exercises challenge your muscles and your brain to maintain balance. improvements in people with parkinson's are typically slow but they can occur if you work hard and consistently. as for slowness flexibility and strength are part of the solution. many pilates exercises work through a full range of motion and so stiffness and flexibility should improve. make sure your instructor focuses some of the attention on a full range of movements and holding those positions to improve flexibility. as for strength it typically improves quickly for beginners. this is because strength is not only a function of the mass of the muscle but also because of improvements in nervous-system patterning (impulses from the brain through the central nervous system to the muscles). when you pattern the transmission of impulses from the brain to the muscles by repeating exercises over and over the brain gets better at recruiting more muscles and you get stronger. patterning is important for people with parkinson's because patterning may diminish with a loss of dopamine so repetition of the exercises should help. pure strength is also important not only for activities of daily living but also for well-being. it's fair to say that under most conditions feeling strong feels better than feeling weak and since most of the pilates exercises build strength (whether on the mat or the equipment) there is certainly benefit to be gained. one of the limitations observed with parkinson's patients who do pilates is the lack of motor training for the activities you do during your normal day like opening doors getting in and out of cars and walking so make sure your instructor helps you with that. there is important research in animals to show that regular aerobic exercise has a positive effect on parkinsonian symptoms. in one study scientists gave rats a medication that induces parkinson's disease by destroying brain cells that make dopamine. after administration of the medication to all the rats the researchers then had half the rats exercise for seven days while the other half remained sedentary. after the study they found that the exercising rats lost only 6 percent of their dopamine-containing neurons whereas the sedentary rats lost 87 percent. that's a substantial difference with the potential for important clinical improvements in symptoms. based on those study results you might want to add aerobic exercise in addition to strengthening balance and flexibility work. if you have trouble walking because of balance problems then try holding on to the side rails of the treadmill (research proves that activities of daily living motor performance and ambulation improve even if you hold on) and use walking sticks (or poles). but use two and not one. two sticks help maintain better posture and gait than walking with one cane. opt for the high-tech low-weight type of walking sticks that you can purchase in sporting goods or outdoor stores. they are sold in pairs and some are telescopic so that they shorten for ease in carrying them around. to summarize any pilates exercise that builds strength (as many of them do) and balance will be beneficial but you need to incorporate standing exercises as part of your regime.
which pilates exercises are good for someone with parkinson's disease?