I was inspired when I heard of the Ping Pong Parkinsons movement in the USA initiated by Nenad Bach, who also initiated the first ITTF Parkinsons World Table Tennis Championship tournament. It was only after hearing Nenad’s revelation, that he could return to playing music that Parkinson’s had taken away from him, shortly after he took up table tennis (or ping pong as it is more commonly known in the USA).
When I reflected back on my own PD journey and joined the dots, for my thankfully slow progression, that my lifelong interest in playing table tennis and living a generally healthy lifestyle has had a much greater beneficial impact than I have probably given it credit. When younger I was a keen cycle tourist, drifting around the Peak District, as well as an avid racquet sports player – tennis, squash and TT.
Whilst later in life, more sedate cycle commuting 24 miles to work and back, active holidays (e.g. cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats and, walking the Offa’s Dyke along the welsh border), daily walking the dog, continued with table tennis and eating healthily (thanks to my health-conscious wife, whom I proposed to at the end of our gruelling End-to-End cycle ride).
Through my pro-active ‘taking part’ with PD research since diagnosis in 2010 aged 44, I feel more in control and greater understanding about the condition. A good example of learning opportunity being a recent webinar on the topic of ‘Exercise and Parkinsons Disease‘ was very helpful and informative.
Another useful resource is this twitter thread from Cure Parkinsons Trust on related research results that showed a significant improvement in OFF-Time for those who undertook aerobic exercise for just 30-45 mins three times per week. Watch this space too for the latest research being undertaken by Julie Jones, a Parkinson’s UK volunteer and researcher
The importance of exercise is now firmly established, and commonly understood, that it can enable those afflicted to help maximise their quality of life – read these blog reports from Parkinson’s UK Researcher, Dr Beckie Porter, on exercise and PD. Especially important for people with Parkinson’s, and especially men, as this study has shown that patients with Parkinsons are one-third less active than the control group
Another useful resource is this twitter thread from Cure Parkinsons Trust on related research results that showed a significant improvement in OFF-Time for those who undertook aerobic exercise for just 30-45 mins three times per week. Watch this space too for the latest research being undertaken by Julie Jones, a Parkinson’s UK volunteer and researcher
“Exercise is medicine
“Parkinson’s people are about a third less active than control group
The importance of exercise is now firmly established, and commonly understood, that it can enable those afflicted to help maximise their quality of life – read these blog reports from Parkinson’s UK Researcher, Dr Beckie Porter, on exercise and PD. Especially important for people with Parkinson’s, and especially men, as this study has shown that patients with Parkinsons are one-third less active than the control group
This is understandable, as a result of the motor, mental and emotional symptoms that PD can inflict. Exercise and sport therapy can help each of these through slowing the progression, managing the symptoms and increasing social interaction. An excellent post on the benefits of TT for PD players can be found here by Bruce Ballard in his Parkingsuns.com blogsite.
The benefits from exercise can be especially so for neurological conditions, with some studies showing that exercise can actually slow down or significantly improve the wellbeing for the individual. One recent example Science Daily report titled “Picking up a pingpong paddle may benefit people with Parkinson’s”
My main revelation so far is that to fully gain the benefits of exercise, a regular and intensive programme of activities needs to be maintained – this study reporting that 3x 30-45 mins aerobic intensity sessions per week can be beneficial. So to make it stick, keep it short, sharp, sociable and fun. Peer pressure, and paying upfront for the sessions (my Yorkshire roots!), gives me the motive to attend on a regular basis, which helps to boost my mood. And what we individually class as ‘fun’ is different for each of us too – so choose whatever you enjoy doing and make the most of it.
Exercise and Parkinson’sKeep it short, sharp, sociable and fun.
Finally, the ‘fun’ part for me would be to represent England/UK in a World Championship tournament. Not to win, just for the vanity and bragging rights. If you’re interested in joining me, or just getting together for a UK based fun tournament please get in touch, whatever your playing standard or level of mobility (a handicapped system will be applied, and everyone will have the chance to win).
Enjoy.
- Ping Pong Parkinson – https://pingpongparkinson.com/
- ITTF Parkinsons World Table Tennis Championship – https://www.ittf.com/tournament/5107/
- Parkingsuns.com blog – http://www.parkingsuns.com/?s=table+tennis
- MJF Exercise – https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/exercise?exercise=
- Parkinson’s UK Exercise Framework – https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/exercise
- Webinar: Exercise and PD – https://www.cureparkinsons.org.uk/webinar-exercise
- Twitter thread on some recent research reports for exercise – https://twitter.com/ScienceofPD/status/1172131325781917697
- Physical inactivity in Parkinsons Disease – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3225631/
- Parkinson’s UK Researcher, Dr Beckie Porter, blogs on exercise – https://medium.com/parkinsons-uk/search?q=exercise
- Julie Jones, Parkinson’s UK physiologist and researcher – https://twitter.com/julie_physio
- Science Daily report ‘Picking up a pingpong paddle may benefit people with Parkinson’s – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200225171757.htm
- TT player eye-sight reaction times vs fighter pilot – https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/showthread.php?7730-Timo-Boll-s-Eyesight-Tested!
Andrew Cassy
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