Wake up and smell the coffee!
High intensity exercise is medicine for PD!
I recently blogged about a NY Times article that reported on the benefits of forced aerobic exercise. Basically, a researcher named Dr. Jay Alberts found that when Parkinson’s patients were forced to pedal on a bike at a faster rate than they’d do on their own, their symptoms regressed. Furthermore, MRI brain scans showed that the Parkies’ brains were more active than those of a control group who didn’t exercise.
Here’s a video where Dr. Alberts further explains his research. It’s 30 minutes long and worth watching a few times. The results are stunning.
The lesson for me: Train at harder rates than I normally do.
The exciting anecdote from his results: Some of the participants regained their sense of smell.
Thanks to Peter Dunlap-Shohl, over at the Parkie blog Off and On: The Alaska Parkinson’s Rag.
I also need to pedal at a faster rate, so will decrease the resistance down from 8 until I reach a level that allows me to pedal at 80-90 rpm.
Thanks, Bruce, for always providing valuable information!! Hoping you will soon smell the coffee 🙂