Stationary Bicycle

[lady54]

Can I please get more information on the benefits of a stationary bicycle for people with parkinsons.

[etterus]

There has been rat and human studies that indicate that forced exercise vs voluntary exercise has therapeutic benefits recruiting damaged neuropathways... better function. The bike studies speed up the pedal speed to 80 rpm which is faster than most people with PD volunteer to perform. They supposedly can get off the bike and walk better.

You can google search "forced exercise parkinson's or stationary bike parkinson's". The Davis Phinney Victory site is a good portal... he was a professional cyclist before PD.

[ronn]

I have no professional study info, but have received good personal results using a reciprocal cycle to excersize both arms and legs, with the stimulus of LOUD, fast-paced music. I use John Phillip Sousa marches played at 120 beats per minute.

The bicycle resistance should be off or at a very low setting. 25 to 30 minutes of this seems to give a good, even cardio workout without straining muscles.

Ronn

[NanCyclist]

Check out the website pedalingforparkinsons.org The little movie is me and another friend with PD biking in my basement. We have both ridden across th state of Iowa twice and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro since having PD. He is early onset, 9 or 10 years and I am 66, four years into it. We were both a bit of a mess before cycling. I am profiled on the Davis Phinney website and a few others. Google Nan Little Parkinsons. Studies were done by Dr. Jay Alberts at the Cleveland Clinic that showed that cycling 3/wk for one hour at 80-90 rpm reduces PD symptoms an average of 35%. I cycle or hike or something nearly every day.

[moonswife]

Speaking not to the reciprocal cycle, but to a newly acquired RECUMBENT bike, it has sure changed motivation. Bought to increase circulation in the legs it has turned out to have a second positive effect. Husband now cycles 10 minutes a day after each dose of sinemet and is cycling his way across America. He figures he might be out of Los Angeles County by March, but watching the miles and the map are interesting. BTW have been able to cut down on the Lasix too.

[ParkinsonSpouse]

The neurologist at Cleveland Clinic gave us this information & I found more by searching the internet. I'll try to make this short.

One of their scientists (I think it was a scientist who wasn't involved in PD) took a friend with PD on a tandem bike ride. When they were finished the friend noticed that she didn't have the shaking tremors, & this lasted for a few hours (if I remember correctly). Cleveland Clinic, as well as other places, began studying this. My husband's neurologist suggested that he ride a stationary bike, using 0 resistance, and pedal 80-90 times/cycles rpm's a minute for 15 minutes, 6 days a week. My husband's tremors aren't too bad yet. Sometimes this helps him, sometimes it doesn't. If I'm correct (I might not be), most of these tests are using tandem bikes, with the PD patient on the back. The person on the front keeps the pedals moving 80-90 cycles a minute, while the PD patient keeps his feet on the pedals. My husband is able to do the pedaling himself. (I hope this makes sense)

Here's some info on this study:

therapy-cycle.com/

There are several links on this page. We don't have any experience with the bike that is mentioned. We purchased a stationary bike at Sears.

[Charlottes_Tandems in reply to ParkinsonSpouse]

One of our Borrowers used one of our tandems and mounted the tandem on a turbo trainer indoors and his son rode it with him to keep the pace up. There is a video of it linked on our website CharlottesTandems.co.uk . We are a Registered Charity that lends tandems to disabled people for FREE.