Parkinson's disease is often associated with older adults, but a surprising number of people are diagnosed in their 40s and beyond. In this episode of LiveParkinson's - Live an Exceptional Life, we meet a young fitness instructor, Megan Anderson who has dedicated herself to helping these patients.
Join host Chris Kustanbauter, who is a participant in Megan's exercise class, interview Megan and hear her inspiring story of seeing the successes of people with Parkinson's and Megan's journey of learning from people struggling with Parkinson's. Megan share her:
Innovative Training Techniques: Discover how she tailors her approach to empower Parkinson's patients over 40 to improve their balance, strength, and daily living activities.
Life-Changing Success Stories: Be uplifted by real stories of patients who have regained confidence and independence through exercise.
Challenges and Triumphs: We delve into the unique challenges of training individuals with Parkinson's and celebrate the incredible victories along the way.
A Transformative Journey: This young trainer not only empowers her patients, but they, in turn, have taught her valuable lessons about resilience, empathy, and the true meaning of living well.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking for inspiration, practical tips on managing Parkinson's, or simply a heartwarming story about the human spirit.
Get your FREE Audiobook and FREE 30 Day Trail to audible.com to sign up visit Audibletrial.com/exceptionallife (Affiliate Link). Thank you for supporting this podcast.
Visit liveparkinson.com to sign up for the FREE Monthly Newsletter and get a FREE copy of 9 Proven Balance Exercises for Parkinson's that you can do at home.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Parkinson's disease is often associated with older adults, but a surprising number of people are diagnosed in their 40s and beyond. In this episode of LiveParkinson's - Live an Exceptional Life, we meet a young fitness instructor, Megan Anderson who has dedicated herself to helping these patients.
Join host Chris Kustanbauter, who is a participant in Megan's exercise class, interview Megan and hear her inspiring story of seeing the successes of people with Parkinson's and Megan's journey of learning from people struggling with Parkinson's. Megan share her:
Innovative Training Techniques: Discover how she tailors her approach to empower Parkinson's patients over 40 to improve their balance, strength, and daily living activities.
Life-Changing Success Stories: Be uplifted by real stories of patients who have regained confidence and independence through exercise.
Challenges and Triumphs: We delve into the unique challenges of training individuals with Parkinson's and celebrate the incredible victories along the way.
A Transformative Journey: This young trainer not only empowers her patients, but they, in turn, have taught her valuable lessons about resilience, empathy, and the true meaning of living well.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking for inspiration, practical tips on managing Parkinson's, or simply a heartwarming story about the human spirit.
Get your FREE Audiobook and FREE 30 Day Trail to audible.com to sign up visit Audibletrial.com/exceptionallife (Affiliate Link). Thank you for supporting this podcast.
Visit liveparkinson.com to sign up for the FREE Monthly Newsletter and get a FREE copy of 9 Proven Balance Exercises for Parkinson's that you can do at home.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life. I'm your host, chris Kustenbotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinson's for the last 14 years. The mission of this podcast is to help as many people as possible living with Parkinson's lead a great quality of life.
Speaker 1:
Today's episode we have a special guest, meg Anderson. She's a certified personal trainer, a Momentum instructor, and Momentum is the program that I participate in at the York PAJCC and it's designed for people with Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders designed for people with Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders and one of the reasons I wanted to have Meg on today not only because she's a personal trainer that works with people with Parkinson's, but she's also younger, so she can give a different perspective on what it's like to work with Parkinson's patients that may be older and how she can build a rapport and relationship with them. Without any further ado, we're going to start and ask Meg a few questions. So, meg, tell me a little bit about your background and about yourself and how you decided to become a personal trainer and then get involved with Parkinson's patients.
Speaker 2:
So a little bit about me. I have my bachelor's in psychology and public health. I originally got into personal training by coaching lacrosse pretty much all my life. I was a student athlete and when I was in the weight room that's when I fell in love with the training program. I've been coaching for nine years now for a high school lacrosse team in the area. Thanks to the knowledge I gained from my strength and conditioning coaches in college, I was able to help my athletes gain their strength, their power and their speed and confidence on the field. And one of the lacrosse moms, who is now one of my co-workers, got me into personal training here at the JCC.
Speaker 2:
Since I started here three and a half years ago, I gained my certifications in my NASM personal training, usa Weightlifting Level 1 coaching, corrective exercise and sports performance enhancement specializations, working the desk here at the fitness center a lot to gain my personal training hours to build rapport with members. That's when I first started seeing the momentum participants. From there I was always impressed on the dedication and the hard work that the participants put in every single class. I'll see them either five times a week, three times a week. It was just really impressive. From there I was helping the momentum intakes and assessment. That was how I first got into the momentum program.
Speaker 1:
Did you have any previous knowledge with Parkinson's before you started in the momentum program?
Speaker 2:
So I haven't. The only thing I knew about Parkinson's was just the basic general knowledge I got from my undergraduate degree, but I never really knew anybody with Parkinson's until I started working here at the J.
Speaker 1:
So what are some of the things that you learned right off the bat about people with Parkinson's?
Speaker 2:
I noticed that it does affect your balance, strength, flexibility, some cognitive and most of the physical things you see are the tremors.
Speaker 1:
Did you see a lot of non-motor symptoms in terms of mood? Do you see people come in, one day they might be upbeat and then maybe they'll go through a period they're not real happy or they just seem down.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I've seen with some participants. I've seen some mood changes. I'll see, let's say, a couple that comes in and they're happy as can be, and the next day they're not as happy and I always wonder why that was. And it was just acknowledging that there will be some good days and some bad days when it comes with this disease.
Speaker 1:
You're a lot younger than most of the participants in the class. Again, I happen to be a participant and I just turned 60 back in September. I'd say I'm even one of the younger ones in the class. There's maybe one or two other people that are around my age, but most of the people are in their 70s and 80s and you're in your 20s, so there's a big age gap. How did you build rapport with these people to get them to look at you and say and trust you so that they would do the exercises and cognitive things that are going to help them on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So when I first started I didn't really have an issue with the age gap. Everyone seemed to respect me as an instructor and just trust the process, that I had the education to help them. So there were moments where I had a few participants say, oh, I'm so young, it's cute. But I just let that roll off my shoulder. That didn't affect me because I knew the knowledge I gained from my certifications and the help from Jen and Susanna with the Power Move cert was a big thing for me. So that gave me the confidence to teach the class.
Speaker 1:
Would you say the class was pretty receptive to the exercises that you did? And do you notice when you do exercises, are there people that are apprehensive because they don't think that they necessarily have the skills? Or if someone new comes into the class, do you notice that they might be apprehensive, and how do the other people in the class help them out?
Speaker 2:
A lot of my training style with this class is athletic movement, balance, walking forward, backwards, side to side and I do have a few participants that might refuse to do the exercises we do, so I am with them one-on-one during the class to make sure they feel comfortable and confident going through the exercise. There was a time where one of our participants refused to do the stepping stones because he was so dependent on his walker, and now he is rolling through it like it was night and day change just because he knew I was there, along with the volunteers, to help him get through it.
Speaker 1:
So that's a good case where you give people modifications, because a lot of times people come in and you have a wide range in abilities and capabilities depending on where they are in their Parkinson's progression. So do you offer modifications to the different exercises so that, whether it be doing walking poles or have you to help people feel more comfortable with the activities?
Speaker 2:
Absolutely. I try my best to give. Every station I do has a modification to it. So if we are doing stepping stones and I have a participant who's feeling really tired that day and he just doesn't think he's going to be able to go through the exercise I have set up, I will have him sit and we'll do steps while he's sitting, just working on that hip flexion, knee flexion, getting his feet up on the step while he's sitting. So I always try my best with a modification on what we're doing.
Speaker 1:
How apprehensive were you when you first started? I mean, you were a lot younger than the rest of the group and you're dealing with people that have a progressive brain disease Going into class, especially your first one. The same thing holds true for the people that are new to the program. You know they have a lot of apprehension and you know they're scared, because I've had a couple of people that have come up and said, well, I thought I'd go to the first class and maybe maybe two, but then that would be it because they were very nervous and apprehensive. But then now they've been in the program for a year or two and they love it. And they love not only the physical aspect, the cognitive but then the social aspect as well.
Speaker 2:
How did you overcome your apprehension? Going in and teaching your first Parkinson's class, I was definitely nervous. My biggest concern was those who are more prone to falling. I've seen people fall where they bounce back quick, and I've seen falls where medical care was needed. What got me over that was just being confident in myself. In case somebody does fall, I'll be there to help them. But also being confident in myself in case somebody does fall, I'll be there to help them. But also being confident in you guys, because you guys are able to do more than what you think. The mind limits you more than your body does, so I always keep my. I try to keep my plans the same for class, but there are times where I'm like maybe this is too much, but I don't want to change it because you guys are rocking it and I'm like you're more than capable.
Speaker 1:
You read the group on a when they come in, depending on how they looked at it, depending on how hard to push, because I agree with you a hundred percent that I think that because we get pushed in the program, we do things and it really helps our functioning in our daily life, because a lot of times we don't push ourselves to do the things that we probably can do.
Speaker 1:
But the other thing I think that you mentioned too was safety. I mean, you've got some volunteers in there to help and you always make sure to keep an eye on and especially have either yourself or the volunteers there to help people that may be struggling, and or you can tell that they're not having a good day, so that you prevent fall, so that someone doesn't get injured, because ultimately that's, we don't want people to fall. But that's one of the benefits of the program is, I think, each of the instructors knows how hard to push, but also do it in a safe manner. So how do you prepare for your classes? How do you decide? All right, well, we're going to either work on balance or flexibility or strength, or or do you try to combine them all together?
Speaker 2:
Try to combine them all together. Really, With my class in particular. It's a pretty large class, so I found the best way to keep everything moving smoothly is to split them into stations. So there might be seven to eight people in a station, but we're in that station five to 10 minutes at a time, so you're still getting that good workout and you're focusing on one thing. So one station is going to be focusing on balance. One station is going to be working on your gait. One station is going to be working on just moving forward backwards, side to side, along with the strength movements and our power moves.
Speaker 1:
That was good, because I was going to ask you if you had specific examples of things you do in class. So what are some of the lessons that you learned in working with Parkinson's patients, since you went into it and you didn't have necessarily a lot of experience, except for help working with some of the other instructors, and now you've been doing it for quite a while teaching the class on your own. So what are some of the big things that you learned from maybe what you perceived going in to what you see now and how you think about Parkinson's now versus before you started?
Speaker 2:
Well, lesson plans always change. I have to be very patient with everybody because, like you said, some people have really good days and some people have not so good days. Really, when I try to go into class, I ask everyone how they're feeling on a scale of one to 10, one being poor, 10 being excellent and that's how I'm able to read the room to see if my lesson plan is truly going to work, because if everyone's having more of a rough day, I'll adjust it a bit, but if everyone's doing a good day, I might throw in something extra in.
Speaker 1:
Is there things that you see now that you didn't expect? Or is there any other learnings that you had? Maybe going into it, you thought, well, maybe this is all there is to Parkinson's, but then, once you got into the class, you found, oh well, geez, there's a lot more that I've learned from these people.
Speaker 2:
So one thing that I'm trying to incorporate more is the cognitive piece. I was really focusing on the physical, of just focusing on the flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, that kind of thing, but it also takes a toll on the cognitive. So one of the great examples I saw this week was one of my volunteers was like before you go up, spell cat backwards and I was like, oh, that's really good, we should incorporate that. Like right before you do your physical exercise there's a cognitive task. You do the physical exercise, but there's also moments where I've seen other instructors use like our power moves and every rep is a letter of a word or a letter of their name, that kind of thing, along with counting. It's not always one to 12. It can be evens odds, every rep can be a multiple of 10, that kind of thing, which was really cool and I'm trying to incorporate that more in our routines in class.
Speaker 1:
I wrote an article on. It's called dual exercises, where you include the physical and the cognitive piece. Personally, when I go to see the movement disorder specialist, they have you say the months of the year backwards or spell something forward and then spell something backwards, and doing two at the same time really gives you two benefits. And I think the other thing too, that that I've gotten from your class is when we do do exercises and we're working on cognitive things too, you have us yell it out. So because you're trying to help us with our projection as well, so that's another benefit too.
Speaker 1:
So I kind of see three things at one time. Can you give any success stories in terms of where someone started and then all of a sudden you thought, maybe, wow, this person's going to struggle, but then totally amazed you and they've come so far, because I mean, ultimately, that's what it's all about is when someone enters the program, that they start and then they progress. We do quarterly assessments and maybe you can explain a little bit about that and why you do them. So if you can, if you have some success stories you could share, that would be wonderful.
Speaker 2:
The quarterly assessments are great to see if we are truly benefiting you guys and seeing if there's progression or regression and your movements. But I think you guys and seeing if there's progression or regression and your movements and I have two people in mind that have made tremendous strides and just progress in general. Genevieve she has been coming to class at least twice to three times a week. She's doing small group training and she's been doing personal training with me, so that's really fun. It's at her apartment because she doesn't have transportation here. However, that doesn't stop her. She's working hard every day. Her assessment the last quarter her numbers went up in a good way, so it was a positive trend on her assessment. Her walking backwards, forwards, with the left turn, her hinge and wingspan have improved by a good amount of points and she'll come up to me and say I don't feel like I'm making any progress. I'm like well, the data shows you are and it's great. So she's doing awesome.
Speaker 2:
And Phil he has gained some confidence and he's coming in. I see him every other day in the weight room on his own. He's coming in to work out. He's been working with Jen, who's one of the instructors. They've been doing a lot of strength, balance work and even in my class I was always nervous because he came in with hiking sticks to help with his balance. I don't think I've seen that man use his hiking sticks in weeks now, because he's been working hard every day and he's gotten himself to be confident in his walking and his balance. And even in class he's not using walking poles, he's doing everything on his own.
Speaker 1:
I guess that's one of the key things and that's what I try to tell people in several of the podcasts too is that exercise is one of the keys. I find it almost as beneficial as medication, because I notice in the class that people that exercise on a regular basis are doing a lot better. They're the ones that are consistent and show up to class, and when they show up to class it improves their daily life too. And sometimes we don't think to ourselves that we're improving, but others notice it, and so it's trying to blend what other people see into your mind, because sometimes it's easy to be hard on yourself. You turn it around and look at the way other people see you and then take that and use it as a positive thing. Then it's going to help you in the long run. Okay, so you've been teaching momentum for now for two years, working with the Parkinson's patients. If you had a wish list of things that you could have for the class, what would some of those be?
Speaker 2:
Well, my wish list would be one a bigger studio. But my one request is to have everybody try to come at least two to three times a week. Getting yourself moving and training on a consistent basis is going to help you progress in your assessment numbers. But this is applied to everybody because even for like myself, for my training I do for my goals. I'm not going to see them only coming once or twice a week. I'm putting in the work three to four times a week but, starting out, minimum two days out of the week come to class or a small group training. For a more specific group training is greater than just coming to one class a week.
Speaker 1:
Why do you think that people only come to one or two classes a week, and then you also have people that they're showing up on a consistent basis and then all of a sudden they just drop off and then maybe you don't see them for a month or two or three months or more, and I'm sure from an instructor's point of view that can be frustrating. So is there a way that you can try to get people to be more consistent?
Speaker 2:
I know some people have their rougher days where they're not feeling their best and the motivation's low. But coming to class, you guys are such a great support system Like I see everybody helping each other out in class system. I see everybody helping each other out in class. So I think that's one of the factors is, just when we're having a mentally bad day, or even physically you're not walking well or you just feel weak, you don't feel like coming to class, which is totally understandable. But just showing up, getting your foot in the door, is the hardest step really. So when you guys come in, you have that little talk in the hallway before you enter the studio and then you're in there to work together. That motivation piece and that social piece is super important for you guys. Even for myself and my clients, the hardest step is getting your foot in the store.
Speaker 1:
You mentioned there that people support each other in the group, and I would say that's absolutely true. So people are always willing to step up and cheer someone on. If they're challenging themselves or if they're having a bad day, they're always running over to help support each other, which is a great thing. What are some of your proudest moments being an instructor with the Momentum program?
Speaker 2:
My proudest moment was just seeing everybody getting out of their comfort zone. Not everyone gets out of their comfort zone every day. There's some setbacks, which I understand. But when I see somebody who was hesitant going over a hurdle because they tripped over it the last time, when I see them go over the hurdles with confidence, it makes me so happy because I knew last week they were just so scared of doing it. So little things like that is huge in my eyes, along with just leaving class with a smile on your face, hearing that you feel so much better after working out. That's the whole point about this is making yourself go from a five to a 10 at the end of class.
Speaker 1:
So you probably see that a lot then, don't you? Where people start out with a low number and then you ask them at the end of class maybe they didn't go to a 10. Maybe they said I feel like a three or four today, but then by the time they leave class maybe they're an eight and they're feeling good. You mentioned that one of the proudest moments is you see someone stepping over the hurdle and that's really helped them then going forward in their daily life then, because once they do it, they know they can do it and then they can go home and they don't have as much fear anymore. So that's always a good thing. What are some of the biggest things that you learned with teaching people with Parkinson's?
Speaker 2:
The biggest thing I learned was there's always going to be hard days and you just have to be optimistic about it. I know I come into class sometimes where I'm feeling tired and there's some days where I just don't even want to do my workout afterwards. But you guys also put that motivation in me because I see you guys putting in that work even when you're having a hard day.
Speaker 1:
You mentioned that people with Parkinson's sometimes they struggle and a lot of times I think there's a fear that people have especially you talked about the social piece that they're afraid to go to the gym or they're afraid to go out in public because of their motor symptoms. And I think one of the things that this program teaches you is that there's other people out there that have the same thing and it's okay, and people aren't necessarily judging you. It's because you have tremors and so if you can go and participate in a program, then that's going to benefit you and helps with your daily functioning as well. So how would you, when you have people that are maybe considering getting into the program, but they're very apprehensive, how do you try to get them over that hurdle, to get them into class?
Speaker 2:
I want them to try at least one class. When we give you the assessments, we give you updated schedules and we'll tell you what class is, who's teaching, what style it is, whether it's chair-based, yoga-based, that kind of thing. I want them to try the one that seems more intriguing. The worst thing that can happen is if you don't like it and then you can try another class. So start small. I like to put in all my clients you want to have smart goals, so start off small. Make sure they're achievable in your eyes, they're realistic and you can do something in a timely manner. So if you can only go to one class a week you can only go to one class a week Then maybe, if your schedule opens up, try two. So that's really the worst thing that can happen is, you don't like the class, Try a different one. We have five different classes. Each instructor has a different style and you can find the one that you like best. But we also want you to be pushed out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 1:
Now, momentum right now is just here in New York, pa, but there's other communities out there where people that are looking for a program like this. Is this something that can be applied to other fitness centers and, if so, how would they go about doing that?
Speaker 2:
I think so. Our program is unique just because we are grant funded. But Somebody who would have more information on how to get something started in their own facility would be Jen and Susanna, because those are like our founders of Momentum Even in past. I went to that symposium with you, susanna, and there's facilities that offer rocksteadyboxing and their own yoga for Parkinson's participants. So research it, go to symposiums and you can figure out ways you can apply a class like that to your facility.
Speaker 1:
If they can't do something like momentum. You're right, there's rock-steady boxing out there, and yoga is another good thing. Tai Chi is another really good thing for balance. So, as we conclude, is there any other things that you would, from your perspective, in dealing with people with Parkinson's, that you say, wow, this has really changed my life and it's really made me a better person because I've worked with this group of people?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's opened my eyes where I'm applying the type of training style that I do in Momentum to my daily clients and even for myself, because in the end, the training I have you guys doing is functional training. We're trying to have you succeed. The things outside of class, like walking upstairs, going over a curb, getting in and out of a car, making sure you feel confident, walking outside on uneven terrain, that kind of thing. Walking outside on uneven terrain, that kind of thing. Everybody's aging. My parents are aging, my clients are aging and there's some sort of decline in either their balance or cognitive. But with those Parkinson's, obviously, that's being affected a lot more than your average human. So it's one of those things where I'm starting to realize okay, my client needs this. Now we're seeing a little decline in the balance. Let's add more core stability, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:
I want to thank you for your time and the input. It's been great, and is there anything else that you'd like to add as we wrap this up? In terms of what you know about just patient with the momentum group? How has being a coach? Has that helped you at all with your interactions with the people with Parkinson's?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, coaching, you're in a group setting, a really large group setting I work with like a varsity and JV team. There could be 25 to 30 girls per team, so it's a group of 60 in the end. That's helped me work a group fitness class. So, with coaching applying to group fitness classes, that has helped me a lot because of the large group setting. With coaching JV and varsity at the high school level, there could be in total 50 kids around me. So that's helped me gain my confidence and my voice to teach a class. That's helped me gain my confidence and my voice to teach a class. I've always had to learn how to work with individuals, one-on-one, because I'm used to having multiple people do one thing, but that was a real easy adjustment working one-on-one.
Speaker 1:
Have you ever had to deal with conflict in the class? I mean coaching. You're always going to have especially high school age kids. You're always going to have conflict where someone said this or someone gets more playing In the Parkinson's class. Have you ever had to deal with conflict where there was an issue between people and if so, how did you deal with it? Or maybe you didn't?
Speaker 2:
Well, thankfully I haven't, and I hope it never happens, because you guys are grown and you're not teenage children, so but you guys sometimes act like five-year-olds with your jokes, which is funny. But I appreciate the humor because we all need to be lighthearted in the end.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for being on the podcast and if you have any questions, please leave a section in the comments and we'll be happy to get those to Megan and we can get back to you with any of your questions that you may have. Before we close out this podcast, I want to share with you an offer from audiblecom for listeners of Liv Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life podcast. Now, if you're not familiar with audiblecom, they're your one-stop source for everything audio. They've got thousands of titles of audio books and podcasts. They also have Amazon originals. Two of the books I highly recommend on Audible are Lucky man by Michael J Fox and the Happiness of Pursuit by Davis Finney.
Speaker 1:
Audible is offering a free audio book and a free 30-day trial. To take advantage of the free audio book and the free 30-day trial, visit audibletrialcom. Slash exceptional life. That's audibletrialcom slash exceptional life. I'll put a link in the description of the podcast Now for complete transparency. I wanted to share that if you decide to sign up for the free 30-day trial in the free audio book, audiblecom pays me a small commission, which I use to support this website. Now you're under no obligation to purchase anything, so if, at the end of the 30-day trial, you're not interested in becoming a member, you still get to keep the free audio book If you decide to sign up for the free 30-day trial and then the free audio book. I thank you for supporting this podcast.
Speaker 1:
Now, as we close out, again, I want to thank Megan for sharing her insights and thoughts on, and experiences on, what it's like to help people with Parkinson's from a younger coach's perspective, and it's great to see that she's helping people living with Parkinson's achieve their goals.
Speaker 1:
So thanks again, megan, for helping people with Parkinson's lead a great quality of life.
Speaker 1:
We really appreciate your efforts. Now, as I close out the podcast, I would request that you visit liveparkinsonscom, which is my website, and sign up for the free monthly newsletter, and there's other free resources there available, including a Parkinson's and medication symptom tracker that you can use to plan your next doctor visits, as well as a one-stop resource document that you can use and, in addition, if you would be kind enough to visit my YouTube page for a lot of the new videos that I post that help you lead a great quality of life and subscribe. I'm trying to create a group of people that can share success stories, to create a group of people that can share success stories and help each other, help people live a great quality of life. So if you could do that, I would greatly appreciate it. Again, I thank you for listening to this podcast. It really touches my heart that you're all tuned in to listen. Thanks again, have a spectacular day and I will hopefully see you on the next podcast.