Weight Lifting Helps Persons with Parkinson’s disease Walk Better

Perhaps contrary to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine, resistance training (or weight lifting) is quite beneficial for persons with PD. In a recent paper published from the Applied Neuromechanics Lab here at UF, resistance training  led to  significant and clinically relevant improvements in the length and speed of stepping during the initiation of gait. For more details: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22266107). Additionally, our colleagues in the University of Florida’s  Laboratory for Rehabilitation Neuroscience have contributed to a review article on the specific benefits of resistance training for PD (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22191068).