Time for some positivity from me. I’m afraid I’ve been a bit short in that department in these blog posts. Like I said before I have allowed my knee issues to almost completely take over my thoughts. It has not been helpful, but also has been a difficult thing to break out of.
I have spoken a lot about how I have been so limited in my ability to exercise. I know that exercise is vitally important to someone with Parkies and it has concerned me how limited I have been. I always appreciate when those that follow my blog give me feedback and share their own knowledge and experiences with me. I am just one person living with Parkies and my journey is uniquely my own. It is great that my followers get something from my posts, but equally I always want to gain from other Parkies people on how they deal with the condition themselves. We can each add to each other’s knowledge and benefit from sharing that knowledge.
Following a recent post, one of my followers commented and put me onto the exercise programme – see link below – that she follows. It is on Youtube and it has both standing and sitting options. This is great for me, because I basically cannot stand on one leg or even stand for more than a couple of minutes at the moment. I have just completed 10 minutes of a 7-day challenge of 10 minutes per day from the Youtube programme. I need to start off slow to make sure I ease into things due to my lack of any real meaningful exercise in recent times. Even sitting, I found myself puffing and could tell my heartrate was getting up, so even starting gently I am sure that I will see some benefits soon.
Here is the link to the programme:
https://www.youtube.com/c/yes2next
I also purchased a static bike, but one with a difference in that it has a similar action to a cross-trainer, but you sit down like on a normal stationary bike.
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/fortis-20-fan-resistance-exercise-air-bike-aexr-200/35323005
I was fortunate to find this bike on Marketplace. Two big plusses were that it was in my neighbourhood and also that the person selling it had bought it only four weeks ago, so it is basically brand new and I got it for less than half price.
I have been told by several physios that knees like the motion of cycling and because it is a static bike, I can have the seat higher and be able to have a range of motion that does not cause me pain. Being a fan resistance air bike, the harder you push the arms the more resistance, so it is easy to start slow and once warmed up push a bit harder to make the workout a bit more challenging.
I have used the bike almost every day since I bought it last week – I have missed one day – and putting some music on in my study while I work out on it is great. I decided I would do 10 minutes daily for the first week and gradually build up to 15 minutes, then 20 minutes and so on. Hopefully, this will improve my cardiovascular fitness, help me lose weight and be good for both my arthritis in my knee and for my Parkies.
Feeling much more positive that I can focus on the exercise I can do, rather than constantly thinking about what I can’t.
Hopefully, this new positive outlook will continue!
My journey with Parkinsons 