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Home » Exercise Programs » New YMCA program offers exercise options for those with movement disorders – Savannah Morning News

Two local nonprofits have joined forces to meet one huge unmet need in our community.

The National Movement Alliance teamed up with the YMCA of Coastal Georgia at Habersham Street to create a new program called Move On! Music. Rhythm. Movement. The program is designed to help people with movement disorders or disabilities have a variety of exercise choices. NMA and YMCA launched Move On! in early February as a pilot and plan to begin the full program at the beginning of April.

NMA executive director Sarah Bernzott says Move On! at the YMCA is modeled after the current Get Excited and Move program that takes place at the Anderson/Cohen weightlifting center.

About a year ago, I went to Michael Cohen at Anderson/Cohen weightlifting and I asked him to design a program for people with Parkinsons and other movement disorders, Bernzott says. And he built an exercise program for me that is absolutely phenomenal.

Expanding the options

Bernzott is also a leader for the Parkinsons support group here in Savannah and has experienced firsthand the issues with finding an exercise program that isnt physical therapy.

The focus of Move On! is overall wellness and getting everyone moving. When you go to the doctor, the first thing the doctor will tell you is you need to exercise but your choices are limited.

The program at Anderson/Cohen has just exploded. Its gone from 23 to 250 people. And we started looking at things we can do to expand that program so that we are meeting everyones needs. Because not everyone wants to go to a gym and exercise.

Bernzott says there is a movement program for Parkinsons Disease called Dance for PD, so she thought about bringing a version of that program to Savannah. She met with Dede Roberts, resource director of Healthy Living at YMCA on Habersham Street, and the pair decided to create a program designed for anyone with movement disorders.

Roberts says they approached yoga instructors Pat Alley and Elizabeth Newkirk, who have danced on and off Broadway and have been yoga instructors in the Savannah area for many years, to create a program. Roberts says both instructors are dancers. Alley has completed her PD training and Newkirk brings 500 hours in yoga training, as well.

Bernzott says the instructors have training so they can modify their classes for the disorders they are working with to provide a rigorous workout to everyone participating.

So, for example, if I cant get out of my wheelchair and I need to move in my wheelchair, then they will modify what they are doing for that, she says. If Im in a walker and I can lift one hand at a time, then they modify for that. If Im completely ambulatory, then I can do other things.

Movement through music

What we are doing differently than what they are doing at Michael Cohens gym where they are in an exercise program doing boxing and lifting weights is that our program is movement through music and rhythm, Roberts explains. Its fluidity of movement and balance and core and posture and cognition. Its just going to be fabulous.

With the dance part of it, a lot of the participants that are coming in with a movement disability will come with a caretaker, which typically can be a spouse.

Another issue some caretakers may have with exercising with their partner is providing safety, and Bernzott says this environment allows for that extra layer of safety.

Safety is paramount in our programs, she says. That above anything else. We want to make sure they feel safe and secure. If they feel safe, they will take risks they wouldnt normally take.

And Roberts says with that safe environment, the confidence will allow them to go to the next step.

And thats what we want, Bernzott says. The entire focus on the program we have been building is that they recognize what they are capable of doing as opposed to what they feel they have lost. Often people with chronic illnesses feel they have lost so much, they are no longer the person they once were. And what weve seen is this tremendous growth where they no longer care about what theyve lost. They are all about where they are at now and there is so much self-esteem.

We have people who literally came into our class at the gym with their head down and wouldnt talk and now they are saying, can I be an advocate for you? They are not ashamed of themselves or their illness any more. Thats what we are shooting for with the program.

Connecting couples

Roberts adds that another exciting part of the program is offering couples a new way to connect.

With that spouse, we have found that over time, theyve lost that relationship of being man and wife because now that other spouse has become the caretaker So, we are hoping that by bringing them in together, this program reunites them in a more marital or relational way.

Roberts tells a story about a recent encounter with a husband and wife who used to dance together.

They lit up when I told them about the dance part of the program. They said, we used to dance together back in the day and we cant wait to do it again. She admitted that she had become that caregiver and he was looking at her in such adoration You could just see a light spark in both of them just talking about the program.

And both say the social aspect of being part of a group is also healing.

It works on so many things at one time, Bernzott says. Youre working on physical health, mental health, social health, confidence. The worst thing they can do is be isolated. Isolation is devastating for anyone, much less someone who has a chronic illness.

The depression that comes makes it so they never get better; they only continue to decline. And thats where this partnership becomes really valuable, because we both have the same goal: to get people out and get people moving and get them excited about the life they get to live.

Seeing results

Roberts says seeing is believing when it comes to the new Move On! program.

For me, going to see the program for the first time at Michael Cohens gym, I watched people shuffle in. And then youd see them start engaging By the time the class is over, its like they are high-fiving each other and ready to dance on out. Its such a difference in what you see in them mentally, and the mental wellness is healing to the physical.

As for the alternative to a program like this, Bernzott says the other option is physical therapy, but her colleague Edward DeVita, director of marketing and public relations for GEM, says this program is for people who arent getting what they need from therapy. He adds that when he sees the program in action, he cannot tell the difference between the caregiver and the patient.

The exciting thing about this is the caregiver aspect. I cant stress that enough, he says. You have a husband and wife and they are doing the same exercises. So, in that situation, they are no longer caregiver and patient They are participating together.

They are rekindling an aspect of their relationship that they have lost. They do the same workout. Their identity is changed a bit to the point that they are excited.

And there is that sense of community because they are all there for a different ailment. You wouldnt be able to tell who was the caregiver and who was the patient, but I dont think patient is the right word. Its therapy without being therapeutic. So, it becomes more social and thats how it leads to word of mouth.

Once you see it, you believe it They are treated like athletes, not patients. If I am sick and I dont want to go to the doctor, Im not going to go because I dont want to go to therapy. But if I want to go see my friends who participate in an exercise program, then its a different response and I would say, Lets go.

Bernzott says the focus is not to treat participants as if they are ill, but to treat them just like they would anyone in the class.

They dont want to be coddled or babied. They want to be independent, just like anybody else would They are taking control of their lives.

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New YMCA program offers exercise options for those with movement disorders - Savannah Morning News

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Home » Exercise Programs » New YMCA program offers exercise options for those with movement disorders – Savannah Morning News