The Impact of Gym Exercises on Wellbeing in Women Living with Parkinson's Disease

Strength and fitness exercise sessions will be delivered to women diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, twice-weekly in a gym setting. Exercise sessions will be supervised one-to-one by exercise trainers employed at the gym. All exercise trainers will have completed an education and training program developed and delivered by physiotherapists with expertise in neurological rehabilitation. The exercise sessions will run for up to one hour each time. Participants will be scheduled to attend 16 exercise sessions over eight consecutive weeks. Participants will be monitored for safety and exercise tolerance by the trainers. The exercise trainers will be educated to seek feedback on exercise intensity from participants by using Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and advised not to exceed a moderate level of intensity. Attendance at scheduled sessions and adherence to exercise programs will be recorded by the exercise trainers. Physiotherapists will be in attendance at the initial two sessions, then will continue to provide oversight and supervision of the program delivery through regular communication with the exercise trainers. Exercise trainers will follow an exercise program guide that includes a broad range of options allowing for individualization dependent on participant ability. Trainers will modify exercise selection based on their own observations of the participant, feedback from the participant, and input from the research physiotherapists when required. This will happen dynamically throughout the program. All programs follow the same four phases: (i) an aerobic exercise warm up using either a stationary bike, rower machine or arm ergo machine; (ii) a selection of large muscle group stretching and core/trunk muscle strengthening exercises; (iii) progressive functional muscle group strengthening exercises using bands, fixed machine weights or free weights (where able); (iv) cool down with stretching/relaxation exercises.