5 Components to practice meaningful exercise

How to Practice Meaningful Exercise:

Today we are going to talk to you a little bit about how we practice in our physical therapy and exercise classes here at the PWR! Gym.

1 It’s important to practice with high physical effort. This means we’re going push you to work beyond your self-selected effort.
2 We know people with Parkinson’s are moving slow and small and so we want to challenge you to move big and fast and put forth more effort than you’re used to so high physical effort is always going to be a part of our programming here at the PWR!Gym.
3 We want to challenge you cognitively through sequences or working on inhibition like “go and no-go” so that you’re forced to pay attention and challenge your brain as well as your body.
4 You should also work on attentional focus. Attentional focus allows you to be more aware of your movements. We want you to check in on what you are practicing, being mindful. People with Parkinson’s move slow and small and so we want to set up targets to have you reach for something and give you feedback through one-on-one physical therapy as well as your exercise therapist leading your class giving you feedback on how you’re moving to increase your attentional awareness.
5 In addition, emotional engagement is really important. We like to have fun in our classes and in our one-on-ones. We know in order to make change in the brain, you have to see why the exercise that you’re doing is meaningful to you, and you also have to enjoy doing it.

We love what we do here at PWR! and we hope you will join us with that. We’ll make sure we have lots of fun here with our exercises. Come join us and practice with those principles in mind!

Interested in measuring your progress?

If you are using our Guided Plans, it may be time to recheck your intensity level to measure your progress! We recommend that after you have been exercising for 8-12 weeks or more, retest yourself with our Intensity Level Self Assessment.

Retest yourself with the Intensity Level Self Assesment

Also, if you want a push, our LIVE classes (in the Gold and Platinum Memberships) will always keep you challenged and excited to exercise!

Try a live class!

Our goal is to make sure you’re always empowered and informed.

We offer handouts, downloads, research updates, Wellness Series talks, retreats with knowledgeable speakers, in-person and virtual wellness consultations, and in-person physical therapy visits. We are here for our PWR! Members every step of the way.

We’re excited to have you join us!