Fun and Fitness for Parkinson’s
Creating a Healthier Active Lifestyle!
Nation’s Nordic Pole Walking Program
Exercise
Is
Medicine
For
Parkinson’s
Evidence
Based
Program
The importance of exercise and physical activity for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been well documented. Exercise produces many benefits including increased physical functioning (motor performance, strength, and endurance), improved gait and balance, cardiovascular fitness, and overall better quality of life. As such, great strides are being made to make exercise a part of the standard treatment of PD.
There are now many classes given from Yoga, Aquatic Therapy to Dance that will benefit PD, but requires you to attend classes.
Nations Nordic Medical Pole Walking is a home walking program that can be done indoors or out with your caregiver, family and friends. Usually, a home exercise programs has a 10% compliance rate at best. Individuals who use our program usually feel benefits in the first or second session. Therefore, we have a 70% compliance rate because it’s simple and easy and gets results. It can be used from stage 1 to stage 5 of PD. We empower you to live an active Lifestyle, giving you hope and purpose so you can continue exercising on a long term bases.
Five Stages of Parkinson’s
- Unilateral involvement only, usually with minimal or no functional impairment.
- Bilateral or midline involvement, without impairment of balance.
- First signs of impaired righting reflexes.
- Fully developed, severely disabling disease; the patient is still able to walk and stand unassisted but is markedly incapacitated.
- Confinement to bed or wheelchair unless aided.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) can be defined in 3 ways
- It is a movement disorder – causing uncontrolled, slowed or reduced movement.
- A neurological disorder – It occurs due to changes in the brain caused by failure to create enough of the chemical – Dopamine.
- A progressive disorder – because it gets worse over time, symptoms become more serious and problematic.
It’s Never To Late To Start!
If you have Parkinson’s, being active is good for you. Nordic walking is a great way to do some gentle full body exercise and meet new friends.
The Nervous
System – 3D
3D Model of the Female Nervous System, complements of Bio Digital.
10+ Health Benefits gained with each
Step of Nordic Pole Walking!
Each step provides:
- Better Posture, Balance and Walking Gait
- Activates 90% of your body musculature
- Increases levels of Dopamine, new brain cells, helps self-regulate brain to calm down
- An Aerobic Resistant/Cross motor exercise generates better Brain Function
- Reduces 30% stress and pain from back, hips, knees and ankles, improves Endurance
- Improves Immune, Vascular and Lymphatics
- Burns 22-47% more Calories than regular walking
- Strengthens and balances the Para- Spinal Muscles
- Improves your mood and restful SLEEP
Nordic Walking is
Full Body,
Aerobic,
Resistance,
and
Cross Motor Function
Exercise
It is a simple exercise that can be done
indoors or outdoors on any surface.
35 minutes of Nordic Walking is equivalent to
one hour of regular walking,
but gives you the Health Benefits of Swimming,
all in one simple easy walking exercise.
33 Stretching, strengthening,
breathing and balance
exercises are available!
Nordic Pole Walking provides all four types of exercises!
ENDURANCE, STRENGTH, BALANCE, and FLEXIBILITY!
Video Courtesy of Celf Creaive Agency
Stages of Walking
The typical walk consists of a repeated gait cycle. The cycle itself contains two phases – a stance phase and a swing phase:
• Stance phase: Accounts for 60% of the gait cycle. It can be divided into the heel strike, support, and toe-off phases.
• Swing phase: Accounts for 40% of the cycle. It can be divided into the leg lift and swing phases.
We will now work through each individual stage in turn, discussing them in more detail.
Heel-Strike
In the heel-strike stage, the foot hits the ground heel first. Three muscles/muscle sets are involved, each acting at a different joint:
• Gluteus maximus – acts on the hip to decelerate the forward motion of the lower limb.
• Quadriceps femoris – keeps the leg extended at the knee and the thigh flexed at the hip.
• Anterior compartment of the leg – maintains the ankle dorsiflexion, positioning the heel for the strike.
Support
After the heel strike stage, the rest of the leading foot hits the ground, and the muscles work to cope with the force passing through the leg. This is known as the support stage.
• Quadriceps femoris – keeps the thigh extended, accepting the weight of the body.
• Foot inverters and everters – contract in a balanced manner to stabilise the foot.
• Gluteus minimus, gluteus medius and tensor fascia lata – abduct the lower limb. Their contraction keeps the pelvis level by counteracting the imbalance created from having most of the body-weight on one leg.
Toe-Off
In the toe-off phase, the foot prepares the leave the ground – heel first, toes last.
• Hamstring muscles – extends the thigh at the hip.
• Quadriceps femoris – maintains the extended position of the knee.
• Posterior compartment of the leg – plantarflexes the ankle. The prime movers include gastrocnemius, soleus and tibialis posterior.
Leg Lift
Once the foot has left the ground, the lower limb is raised in preparation for the swing stage.
• Iliopsoas and rectus femoris – flexes the thigh at the hip, driving the knee forwards.
• Hamstring muscles – flexes the leg at the knee joint.
• Anterior compartment of the leg – dorsiflexes the ankle.
Swing
In the swing phase, the raised leg is propelled forward. This is where the forward motion of the walk occurs.
• Iliopsoas and rectus femoris – keep the thigh flexed at the hip, resisting gravity as it tries to pull the lower extremity down.
• Quadriceps femoris – extends the leg at the knee, positioning the foot for landing.
• Anterior compartment of the leg – maintains ankle dorsiflexion so that the heel is in place for landing.
• Next, the heel hits the ground, and the whole cycle repeats.
By Rlawson9 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The
Five Stages
of Walking
