Kicking goals and showing improvement whilst living well and staying active.
The Brain x Body Fitness Studio membership base is increasing rapidly, which only cements further the need for this type of studio for people with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.
The studio is averaging 110 sessions per week with most members attending the recommended schedule of at least two visits per week.
Time to reassess
At Brain x Body Fitness Studio, we get excited to see the results behind the commitment and have recently started our reassessments for BBFS members. All members get tested when they start at BBFS to provide a baseline measure to monitor progress and any need for program adjustments. Members then get reviewed every six months to monitor the impact of their commitment to staying active.
These measures involve a range of physical tests such as strength, balance, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance while also measuring self-reported quality of life through a number of questionnaires. Importantly these measures help participants see the impact that their commitment to staying active has on their ongoing wellbeing.
A 70-year-old male with Parkinson’s went from 16 repetitions to 23 repetitions in his 30 second ‘sit to stand’ score! That’s an improvement of nearly 36%! This is a measure of lower body strength.
New cognitive challenges – blaze pods
BBFS members are enjoying the new blaze pods we have recently purchased (pictured above). The blaze pods work by lighting up in unpredictable intervals, providing a cognitive challenge that targets reaction time, decision making, agility, speed and balance.
The blaze pods allow us to challenge both sides of the body as many members have a more dominant, favoured side. The best part is we can easily adjust the challenge and intensity to suit all ability levels.
Another exciting new piece of equipment will be a lights wall made by member Mike Humphry. Mike’s lights wall works in a similar way to the blaze pods to challenge reaction time, fine motor control and speed. We cannot thank Mike enough for donating this piece of equipment to the studio for all members to use.
Student placement positives
At BBFS we are keen to have student exercise physiologists learn about Parkinson’s disease so when they graduate, they have greater understanding about the pathology of Parkinson’s and the evidence-based exercise recommendations. We love having student placements in the studio as much as possible!
Natalya is in her final year of a Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology at UniSA and has been volunteering for BBFS since July 2020. Natalya initially walked past the studio and decided to go online and see what this purple building promoting itself as a Brain x Body Fitness Studio was all about! She quickly discovered it was an exercise physiology studio targeting movement disorders and was instantly keen to volunteer.
“At Southern Cross Care (where I previously volunteered) I had the opportunity to work closely with a few clients with Parkinson’s and as a result, have had a strong desire to work with neurological clients in the future,” Natalya said.
“I have found my time at BBFS invaluable as I’ve been given exposure to many different neurological conditions and movement disorders under Tayla’s guidance. It has made me more confident with my exercise prescription, improved my communications skills and has made me better prepared to enter the workplace as an exercise physiologist in 2021.”
“I have met some wonderful clients in the studio and it’s been a pleasure to volunteer my time every Friday.”
