Anna Langridge / photo: 1FitLife / Andrew Rapkins

I read with great interest the initial findings from the Yale School of Medicine in HCM that revealed HIIT can reverse neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease. This is obviously exciting news for the 12 million people globally living with this disease.

At 1FitLife, we work with charity Parkinson’s UK creating digital resources and workouts to help its community more easily access exercise. The Yale pilot supports the charity’s own findings that being active for two and a half hours a week or more can help manage Parkinson’s symptoms; members of the community are increasingly reporting that physical activity – especially vigorous workouts – are helping temporarily alleviate symptoms.

We recently created a series of eight 30-minute video workouts focused on HIIT-style training and this has already had over 40,000 views. The charity has reported that neuro physiotherapists and Parkinson’s nurses are signposting their patients to the content, as it can be used to supplement people’s own training or to help them to try something new. Our content was also referenced at the World Parkinson’s Congress and signposted to delegates.

Useful to other users
The classes can also be used by anyone with barriers to getting out, such as mobility or mental health issues, who wants to be active. They also give people options during the winter or bad weather and while addressing the cost of living crisis, as classes are free.

However, feedback to Parkinson’s UK from its community found that this level of activity isn’t achievable for everyone. Some don’t feel capable of doing 30 minutes’ exercise in one go.

With this in mind we’re filming a second series for the Parkinson’s community. The directive is to engage people who are newly-diagnosed, inactive or not confident, to encourage them to try new activities. The content is based on six different activity types: total body walking, Pilates, strength training, dance, boxing skills and football and the videos are between 10-20 minutes long, with exercises broken down into manageable parts and including seated options and breaks.

Other examples
We’ve also had the pleasure of creating bespoke content for Carers UK, whose community often can’t access gyms or leisure centres due to their caring responsibilities and for charity IIH UK (Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension), which supports people living with an incurable neurological condition associated with fluid pressure around the brain.

Sufferers often fear ‘normal’ exercise and certain movements – such as bending down – could worsen their symptoms, which include disabling daily headaches, brain fog, fatigue and visual loss. These specialist physiotherapist-lead videos mean the IIH community can safely access physical activity at home.

It’s heartening to see research being done into the most effective exercises, as these communities have very particular needs for accessing activity and education, but it’s important to remember that even within these targeted groups, one size doesn’t fit all.

Martyn Allison,

While I hate the idea that some people have become reliant on food banks, they’re life savers for many.

I suspect many who use them are also our least active members of society, with significant health needs. I also hear there’s an app where people can access food from shops and restaurants wanting to minimise their food waste by giving it away.

Has anyone considered applying this idea to physical activity and creating activity banks? Most operators – whether public, private or voluntary – have off-peak capacity that, like food, has time-limited availability.

Could we, as a sector, use tech to put this into a ‘bank’ to be accessed free or cheaply by people and families under the same referral schemes we use for food banks?

A free swim or activity session can be a life-saver for all ages, creating new habits for better times. Just an idea. What do others think?

Connect: [email protected]