April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, but there are several opportunities to learn more about this progressive brain disorder all year long:
For convenience, most programs are offered on indoor, stationary bikes and hosted at local YMCAs, gyms, or other community spaces. Learn more about whether this program might be right for you as well as how to join in-person or online classes and download the Rider Guide.
What should everyone know about Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s Awareness Month is the perfect time to brush up on your Parkinson’s facts. Here are 5 fast facts about PD:
- Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s each year.
- Scientists believe a combination of environmental and genetic factors cause PD.
- People with Parkinson’s experience both movement and non-movement related symptoms.
- Symptoms can be managed through treatments like medications, lifestyle changes, exercise and in some cases, surgery.
- Early-onset Parkinson’s disease occurs in people younger than 50 years of age.
Learn more about the impact of Parkinson’s on our statistics page.
Jenny Behmer is a certified group fitness instructor for the YMCA, on the schedule for about 6 classes weekly: Total Body Strength, Group Cycling, Les Mill’s SPRINT, and Pedaling for Parkinson’s. Jenny is always willing to help out a fellow instructor too and pick-up a class when a sub instructor is needed (I know that first hand!). Here’s Jenny’s GUEST POST…
While I’m new, in the last 12 months, to the Pedaling For Parkinson’s (P4P) program offered at Mary Free Bed YMCA in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I am not new to instructing Studio Cycling (spin) classes, it is something I have enjoyed doing for many years.
When I was first approached about joining the team teaching P4P, I was ready to go and excited about the challenge. To prepare, I watch some training videos for the class. I found them a bit lackluster, and they left me feeling as if I were being advised to babysit and cuddle a group of adults that has been either recently diagnosed or living for years with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). That didn’t seem the right approach to me as it would create a lot of missed opportunities.
As I met this wonderful group of people, all at varying stages of progression in the disease, I started with one thing, they are here for a group indoor cycling experience, they are not here for me to remind them they are PD patients. P4P is about maintaining health, but it also must be about maintaining dignity and respect for the individual. Each of them was put at the starting line of a race they were not prepared for, so we train for that race right in the midst of it.
The aesthetic of the class is different than a typical spin class, specifically the lighting is brighter and the music volume is lower. It is very much a social spin, participants talk, we get to know each other, and there is really a great rapport in the room. It is still 100% a spin class.
I want people to feel confident, welcomed, acknowledged, and heard when they walk both in and out the door – the right environment to keep people engaged and promote regular participation.
P4P is not just for PD patients. We also encourage caregivers to join us, along with beginners, individuals recovering from an injury, and other YMCA members that are looking for a less intense, yet challenging, spin experience.
I cannot stress enough what a terrific group of people I get to coach in P4P every week, and I truly look forward to the time I spend with them.
Thanks Jenny for all you do to lift up all our YMCA members, and for taking time to share this blog post!
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