World Parkinson’s Day

We know that being physically active is important for everyone, and it can be particularly beneficial for people with Parkinson’s. However, it’s important to find the right exercise to suit your symptoms. On Thursday 11th April, World Parkinson’s Day, we’re asking you to show your support by wearing blue.

Here’s how we worked with referral participant, Ken.

“My Parkinson’s specialist suggested an exercise structure, and from that I was put in touch with the team at Enjoy Leisure. My initial chat involved a series of questions that covered my current mobility and capability as well as taking account of my mental well-being.

“From this I met my health and fitness coach, Fiona, to understand fully my physical capabilities and my mental comfort. She even brought along a golf club to test my grip, as I’d mentioned this in our conversation. Fiona explained the process and advantages of warm-up, exercise, and cool-down and I was introduced to the gym.

“We worked to ascertain the level of weight/resistance that was comfortable – and found a weight that would challenge me not just on circuit one, but also circuit three. I was given a chart, which Fiona stressed was my chart and that I could change it as time progressed, depending on how I feel at the time, but the idea is not to plateau for too long.

“I’m currently maintaining the stretching and exercise and find that adding more resistance, distance, repetition or circuits help me to vary the patterns each day. Fiona is always on hand should I need to contact her with any questions.”

Learn more about our referral scheme via the health and wellbeing section on our website.