How to Create a Daily Routine for Brain Health & Mobility with Parkinson’s

Living with Parkinson’s doesn’t mean giving up your independence, confidence, or quality of life. In this episode of Live Parkinson’s – Live an Exceptional Life, we break down how to create a simple, research-backed daily routine that supports brain health, balance, strength, and mobility with Parkinson’s disease.

You’ll learn:

• Why daily routines are critical for managing Parkinson’s symptoms
• How aerobic exercise, strength training, balance, and flexibility improve mobility and gait
• The science behind exercise and brain health, including how movement supports neuroplasticity
• A practical 10–20 minute daily mobility routine you can start immediately
• How to structure a weekly exercise plan that fits your energy level and medication schedule
• Tips for reducing fall risk, improving confidence, and staying consistent

This episode is grounded in clinical research and physical therapy guidelines showing that regular exercise can improve motor symptoms, balance, and overall quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s.

🎯 Free Resources & Support

For more practical tools, worksheets, and evidence-based guidance, visit liveparkinsons.com and subscribe to the free monthly newsletter. You’ll get access to free resources, articles, and strategies designed to help you live your best possible life with Parkinson’s.

❤️ Support the Show

If this podcast has helped you, please consider supporting our mission of helping people live a great quality of life with Parkinson’s. Your support allows us to continue creating free, high-quality content for the Parkinson’s community. Click the Support the Show link or visit ko-fi.com/liveparkinsons to donate and support.

👉 Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could benefit — together, we can help more people live exceptionally with Parkinson’s.

Chapters

• 0:11 Welcome And Purpose
• 0:26 Why Routines And Exercise Matter
• 1:45 Evidence From Physical Therapy Guidelines
• 4:27 Exercise And Brain Health: BDNF
• 5:55 Community And Task‑Specific Training
• 6:42 Guiding Principles For Routine Design
• 10:58 The Daily Micro Routine
• 12:43 Weekly Training Blueprint
• 15:32 Consistency Tips And Tracking Wins
• 16:30 Modifications And Sample Week
• 18:17 Debunking Common Myths
• 19:04 One Key Takeaway And Resources
• 19:21 Support, Subscribe, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:11

Welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life. I'm your host, Chris Kestenbotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinsons for the past 15 years. The mission of this podcast is to help as many people as possible living with Parkinson's to lead a great quality of life. Today we're talking about how to build a simple daily routine that supports both brain health and mobility when you have Parkinson's. So if you want practical steps that you can actually follow, not just theory, then you're in the right place. Now imagine having a routine so consistent it becomes automatic. A set of short practices that keep you moving, thinking clearly, and helps you reduce the chance of falls. That's what we're going to be building today. Short, doable habits backed by science so you can feel more confident starting each day. As a disclaimer, please ensure that before you start anything new, that you get approval from your healthcare professional to ensure it's appropriate for your specific health needs. Alright, so let's talk about why routines and exercise can help you on your Parkinson's journey. Research shows that moderate to high intensity exercise combined with regular strength and balance training helps improve motor symptoms, functional outcomes, and overall quality of life for people with Parkinson's. Now you've probably heard me say it a million times. All right, maybe not a million, maybe just a hundred times, that exercise is a key cornerstone in helping you stay active, mobile, and engaged on your Parkinson's journey. Now it's definitely helped me on my 15-year Parkinson's journey. I'm still able to teach a peddling for Parkinson's class through the Davis Finney Foundation, and I teach a boxing class for people with Parkinson's. But to provide you with additional support so that you don't have to believe what I'm telling you with blind faith, there is an article published in the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association from December of 2021 titled Physical Therapist Management of Parkinson's, a clinical practice guideline from the American Physical Therapy Association. The American Physical Therapy Association developed a clinical practice guidelines that are based on systematic reviews of published studies involving physical therapist management of individuals with Parkinson's. The article provides a summary of both recommendations which should be used. Now they broke the recommendations down into a table with the following headings type of intervention, quality of evidence, strength of recommendation, and the actual recommendation itself. So let's take a look at what they include in their recommendations, starting off with aerobic exercise. They say the quality of evidence is high, and their recommendation is physical therapists should implement moderate to high intensity aerobic activity to improve cardiovascular fitness, reduce motor disease severity, and improve functional outcomes. Alright, next up, resistance training. The quality of evidence is high, and they recommend including resistance training to reduce motor disease severity, improve your strength, power, and non-motor symptoms, and improve functional outcomes as well. Number three on our list, balance training. The evidence for balance training is high, and physical therapists should implement balance training intervention to help reduce postural control impairments and improve balance and gait outcomes. Also, mobility and balance confidence will be improved. Finally, flexibility exercises. Now they indicate that the evidence is low, but can be included to help with the range of motion. Now, while there are more recommendations, these are some of the key ones that we are going to focus on today. Now, if you haven't worked with a physical therapist and are having balance, gait or other problems in your daily life, I highly recommend seeing a physical therapist. Now I've gone at least three times for balance and gait issues, and they really help me improve. Now, I wanted to cover this because it reinforces what I've been stressing about exercise and the skills and tools that I learned in physical therapy really helped me on my daily journey. All right, now we've looked at how exercise can help with our overall fitness, strength, and balance, but beyond muscles and balance, did you know that exercise also affects the brain? Yes, you heard that right. Exercise can also help our brain. And I know mine needs plenty of help, that's for sure. Clinical studies and meta-analysis show that exercise raises the level of brain-derived neurotropic factor, or BDNF. I say that 10 times fast. A key neurotropin associated with neuroplasticity, and we've talked about this before, but neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to form new neural connections. A lot of times when you're learning a new skill or a new hobby, you're building neuroplasticity, maybe like guitar or you're playing something else. Now, why is this important? Because BDNF helps the brain adapt and form new connections, which is part of how exercise supports thinking and movement. In fact, there's a study published in the journal Neuroplasticity from September of 2017 titled The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor in People with Neurological Disorders, a systematic review and meta-analysis. And the authors concluded that this review provides evidence that aerobic exercise has a positive impact on levels of BDNF in neurological populations as measured by peripheral blood. And to wrap up why routine and exercise matters, community-based and task-specific activities such as dance programs like Tango have been shown to improve your gait, your balance, and your confidence. Now, behavioral programs like the LSVT Big program, which I have personally participated in, they show functional benefits for movement retraining. So if you're having trouble with your balance or you're having trouble with your gait, check into the LSVT Big program. I know some of the physical therapists use it, and it's uh it's a good program that you can actually do at home as well. You can do the exercises to help you with your balance. Others include Tai Chi, Dance, Yoga. They're all great options to mix into your routine. All right, now let's switch gears and turn our attention to the actual routine, which is a practical research-based blueprint that we're going to be talking about. Now, before we dive into specifics, let's talk about some guiding principles for our routine. So if you have some paper, feel free to jot these down for future reference. If not, try to remember them if you can. First, aim for consistency over intensity at first. Why? Because if you try to go all out at the beginning, you're going to wear yourself out, you're going to be so sore and tired that you won't be able to continue. So when you're first starting out, always start out slow and build on your wins and successes. And also, one of the reasons you do this as well is you want it helps you stay consistent and so that you'll continue on with your program. So it's always better to start small and build gradually. Next up is combine aerobic strength, balance, and flexibility exercises across the week. So don't try to do them all at the same time in the same day. Spread them across the week, and that's going to help you. So this helps ensure that you have all your bases covered and you're getting a complete body workout and that you don't get burned out doing the same exercises over and over again. Now, from a personal perspective, I like to spend 10 minutes a day on balance exercises and then 10 minutes on stretching and flexibility because both of those are what I use in my daily life. So the balance exercises have really helped me improve my balance and the flexibility and stretching keeps me mobile and helps me to feel like I can get around a lot better. Then I usually do four days of aerobic exercise, like cycling, like a spin class, walking, swimming, uh, elliptical. And then to round out my exercise program, I also do strength training three times a week. Now I typically do lightweights and more reps. And then I try to include bodyweight exercises in there as well, like squats and lunges and marches and those types of things as well. So that I actually work on not just my arms and back and chest, but I also work on my core and my legs because that's what's going to give you help you with your balance. So it's important to do strength training. Now you don't have to be afraid and say, Oh, I can't go to the gym and lift weights. You can use lightweights at home and do more repetitions. They help to increase your flexibility, but also you want to do strength training to help maintain your muscle mass, which we begin to lose as we age. So I typically do these three times a week, and there that does help me in in terms of strength and flexibility. Plus, again, it helps you with your core, which is going to help you with your balance and your gait. So remember, try to have a good balance of different types of exercises. So next up on our guiding principles is use habit cues. Like the time of day, for me, I personally like to exercise in the morning when I have the most energy. And then you can also have a pairing activity. Like some people like to exercise and then have morning coffee. I know the the one spin class that I take, they do the spin class and then we all get together afterwards for some coffee and conversation. And you can also time it to your medication schedule as well. So if you do best right after you take your medication, maybe that's the best time to for you to exercise. So use habit cues like that. So build a habit and it's going to help you in the long run. And then finally, and last but not least, is safety first. Now, this one's very important because you can't be consistent if you hurt yourself. So before you exercise, again, you want to get clearance from your doctor. And then once you're you're cleared from your doctor, you want to make sure that you clear any trip hazards. If you need to, use a chair for support or a wall or a spotter. And also if you need it, consult a physical therapist or your doctor before you start anything new. But they could uh physical therapists can help you work through some of these exercises as well. All right, now we have all our guiding principles and let's use those to help us develop a daily micro routine. 10 to 20 minutes that we can do every day. Now, what I'm about to share is an example, and it's for informational purposes only. Now, if you like it, review it with your doctor to make sure it's right for you. And let's get started. And we'll begin with a five-minute warm-up, which we can do marching in place, shoulder rolls, neck mobility, where you can look left, center, right, and then lift up and down. So you want to make sure that you stretch your neck out as well, and then some nice ankle circles in both directions. This is gonna help loosen up and get the blood flowing. Now the next move into is a mobility circuit, and you can try to do it twice if you can. So from a chair, you can do sit to stand. So try to do those eight to twelve times because this is gonna provide strength and functional training. And again, you can use support if needed. Use the chair, use a wall or use a spotter. Heel raises, try to do 10 of these. This builds ankle strength and balance. So again, I would highly recommend that you start out using a wall or stable counter. And then marching with high knee lifts for 30 to 60 seconds, and this is good for cardio and gate cueing. And then finally, two to five minutes of mindful breathing. And you can do three to four slow deep inhales and exhales. This is going to help you manage stress, and it can be used to initiate your walking if you have freezing issues. Alright, so there you have it. A daily micro schedule to help you on your Parkinson's exercise journey. Alright, now let's look at what a weekly schedule might look like. And let's start with aerobic exercise. You want to try to target three to five sessions per week, 20 to 40 minutes each, at a moderate or vigorous pace when you're cleared by your doctor. Start by gradually building both time and intensity. Now, some examples of aerobic exercise would include treadmill, walking, cycling, brisk walking outside with a friend, or dance classes. Swimming is another great example. Aerobic training is linked to better motor and non-motor outcomes and is the focus of the physical therapy recommendations that we discussed earlier. Alright, next up is strength and resistance. Try to do at least two sessions per week, ideally 30 to 45 minutes. And you want to focus on your legs, your hips, your core, and your arms because they're all important for our balance. And then progressive resistance training improves your strength and functional performance. Alright, next up is balance and task specific training. And you want to try to target this two to three times per week. And they can be short, 10 to 15 minute sessions. Use exercises that challenge your stability for balance exercises. And you can go to liveparkinsons.com and get your free copy of the nine balance exercises to help improve your balance. And then you can also include uh dance-based classes like Tango or Zumba. They're going to help you with your balance and flexibility and movement as well. Now, flexibility and mobility is the next daily or every other day exercise that you want to try to include. And then finally, mindfulness and cognitive health. Try to do 10 to 15 minutes, and this can include mindfulness and meditation, or one of my personal favorites is dual task exercises, like walking or strength training, where you're counting by threes or odd numbers, or you're spelling words forward and backward during an exercise, because this is going to challenge you both physically and mentally at the same time. So I like to do like squats where I'll say the months of the year backwards, or lunges where I spell new words. So all those are going to help you while you're exercising to build both your physical and your cognitive skills. Size, intensity, and volume may help to increase brain-derived neurotropic factors and other brain health markers. And then this information is from the study, The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor that was published in Neuroplasticity. If you project your voice while you're doing these dual task exercises as well, you can help and improve your speech volume as well, because we all know that our speech tends to get quieter as our disease progresses. All right, now let's look at some real-world tips to stay consistent. First off, short and frequent beats, long sessions. So if you do 30 to 40 minutes is too much for you now, split them into two 15 to 20 minute sessions. Do one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Use community, group classes, online sessions, or a walking or workout buddy. They're going to help you increase your compliance to your exercise routine, and they're going to help keep you accountable and make sure that you're able to continue with your program. And then plus, you can also compare results. So when you work out with a buddy. And then track small wins. Write down your progress. Extra steps, improve sit-to-stand repetitions, fewer freezing episodes. When you celebrate small wins, it's going to help keep us motivated and pushing forward. And that's the whole key. We want to stay motivated and we want to make sure we're pushing forward. All right, now let's look at some practical modifications and safety. And then give you an example week for exercising for brain and body health. And let's start with some practical modifications. So if you have freezing of gait, what you can do is use external cues like rhythm, rhythmic music, stepped counting, or visual targets. So for instance, rhythmic music, a lot of times if I have freezing and I listen to music, if you follow the beat, some that helps to get you started. Sometimes you can count as well: one, two, three, and then initiate your movement. So those are some things that you can do to help with. And according to the physical therapist management of Parkinson's, a clinical practice guideline from the American Physical Therapy Association, if your balance is limited, do balance work next to a sturdy surface and consider a supervised class or physical therapy. And then finally, always coordinate exercise timing with your medication for best performance windows. Alright, so now let's give you a sample week what it might look like. So Monday, you might start off with 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 minutes of stretching and flexibility. Tuesday, 35 minutes of strength training and 10 minutes of balance exercises. Wednesday, dance or Tai Chi classes for balance. Thursday, 30 minute aerobic intervals plus 10 minutes of strength and flexibility training. Friday, strength training, where you might do 30 minutes of that plus 10 minutes of balance exercises. And then maybe Saturday, you do a community walk, you do a yoga class, you do swimming. And then Sunday, rest or just general mobility and mindfulness exercises. Now before we close out this episode, I want to address two common myths that I hear and I read about from people with Parkinson's. And the first myth is exercise will make my tremors worse. Well, the reality is appropriate exercise programs are safe and often help to improve your motor symptoms and function when done correctly, under the guidance according to the physical therapy guidelines that we talked about earlier. The second myth is you're too old to start. The reality is that people at different stages of disease benefit from tailored exercise programs based on their needs. Now remember, even modest gains matter. And remember to always review this with your physician before you start any new exercise program. Alright, as we close this out, if you take one thing from this episode, it's this move daily. Even a short, structured mobility block combined with regular aerobic strength and balance work can make a meaningful difference in your mobility and your brain health. Now, to learn more about this, visit my website, liveparkinsons.com, and subscribe to the free monthly newsletter, which is packed with information to help you live a great quality of life with Parkinsons, and you can become part of the community. You can also get the nine balance exercises to help you improve your balance, as well as other informational articles there as well. Now, if you want to support the show and my mission to help people live an exceptional life with Parkinsons, consider clicking on the support the show link in the podcast description or visit my Kofi page at Kofi.comslash Live Parkinsons. Your support helps keep these episodes free and helps me create more resources to help the Parkinsons community. Now thank you so much for listening. If you found the episode helpful, please subscribe or follow the podcast and share with someone who can benefit. Until next time, stay healthy, stay strong, and live your best life with Parkinson's. Thanks again for listening and see you all soon.