{"id":576809,"date":"2026-05-10T18:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576809\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T18:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:35:20","slug":"richmond-parkinsons-community-finds-strength-through-exercise-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576809\/","title":{"rendered":"Richmond Parkinson\u2019s community finds strength through exercise program"},"content":{"rendered":"

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – People living with Parkinson\u2019s disease are finding a way to fight the progressive disorder by lifting weights together a couple times a week.<\/p>\n

Jen Walker is among those hard at work. She and everyone else in the class have Parkinson\u2019s disease, a progressive brain disorder affecting movement over time.<\/p>\n

Walker was diagnosed in 2015, forcing her to quit her job as a midwife. She said the disease quickly took a toll on her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was failing. I was going downhill so quickly,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

That changed when she started exercising, joining the class a couple years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy coordination is better, my strength is better, my mobility. I still fall all the time but I sleep better, everything is better,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

The free sessions are run out of RVA Performance Training by a group called LiftPD.<\/a> A few different classes meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur exercise classes are specific towards the symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s disease, so trying to counteract rigidity and balance issues, and anything that comes with the neuro disease,\u201d said Lauran Martyn, executive director of LiftPD.<\/p>\n

\"ParticipantsParticipants exercising during class designed for people with Parkinson’s disease(Phoenix Keil)<\/p>\n

Martyn said the training helps both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people increase their bone density, their muscle mass, and their strength over time and also maintain their independence,\u201d Martyn said.<\/p>\n

John Poma is another participant. He was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was never really much of a gym goer but exercise has now become the focus of my daily life and in many ways I feel like I\u2019m healthier now than I was before,\u201d Poma said. \u201cI work in health care so I made a commitment really early on that I don\u2019t want to be defined by the symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

That attitude of determination is found among everyone there lifting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to stay independent as long as I can, I want to be able to drive, I want to be able to get out of bed, I want to be able to take care of myself,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Joined together in their battle against Parkinson\u2019s, participants said it\u2019s more than just an exercise class, it\u2019s a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps me going. This is my tribe, my people,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

LiftPD is hosting it\u2019s fourth annual Lift Off<\/a> on May 17th as a fundraising event for the program. <\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"Screenshot(LiftPD)<\/p>\n

Participants will try to lift the most weight they can in the Clean while raising money from donations. This fundraiser helps pay for the Parkinson\u2019s exercise program. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WWBT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – People living with Parkinson\u2019s disease are finding a way to fight the progressive disorder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[390,1377,6647,102,40471,4497,40470,20438,40472,56,54,55,40469],"class_list":["post-576809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-live-speeches","tag-live-updates","tag-live-video","tag-press-conference","tag-real-time-coverage","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-video-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}