New national register of Parkinson’s specialist personal trainers

Until now there has been no reliable mechanism for people with Parkinson’s to find a personal trainer with the relevant skills and knowledge to work effectively with people with the condition.

With exercise still the only disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s, the support offered by a personal trainer can be life changing if you have the condition.

Implementing the right dose and intensity to slow progression, avoiding injury or other complication, can be a huge challenge both physically and mentally. Personal Trainers are the experts at helping people on this journey.

But it is vital that the Personal Trainer has the right experience, knowledge and qualification to ensure they can safely and effectively take on this role.

They must also be able to liaise effectively with the client’s MDT. Currently there are far too few of these trainers around

The new National Register aims to solve this problem.

The NRPSPT recruits, trains and monitors personal trainers to ensure they maintain up-to-date qualifications and accreditation.

It also makes it easy for people with Parkinson’s to connect with them.

The Register is run by 4D Life, supported by Parkinson’s UK, CIMSPA, Cure Parkinson’s and FitPro.

The goal of the register is to allow anyone with early to mid stage Parkinson’s in the UK to have the option of working with a properly qualified Personal Trainer should they wish to.

Trainers on the Register have access to the 4D Life programme, an online resource for people with Parkinson’s, guiding them to be able to advise clients on evidence-based nutrition, function and lifestyle training, as well as exercise.

The programme has been created by Personal Trainers with a combined 50 years’ experience, a Neurological Physiotherapist and a Registered Dietitian.

Nick Berners-Price, founder of 4D Life and the Register, has been a personal trainer for 30 years and had Multiple Sclerosis for nearly 205 years.

He is passionate about helping people living with medical conditions gain the benefits available from the right movement, nutrition, functional training and lifestyle.

He is one of the panellists speaking at the CIMSPA conference around the theme of ‘Connecting the Dots’, aiming to improve links between the Health and Social Care sector and the fitness industry.

Berners-Price said: “The recent research released on survival rates after diagnosis with colon cancer changed the landscape around the importance of personal training in helping people with medical conditions.

“The major international, phase 3 trial reveals  how important it can be to work with a Personal Trainer. 889 people in 6 countries who had been diagnosed with colon cancer were involved in the study.

“Half the group were given advice and information on the importance of exercise and what to do. The other half worked with Personal Trainers.

“After 8 years the patients who had worked with trainers (for around 6 months) had over a third (37 per cent) lower risk of death.

“This research conclusively shows the benefits that working with a Personal Trainer can have.

“It reinforces again that it’s no good telling people that they ought to exercise, we have to support them to actually do it through structured appointments with a qualified professional.”

People with medical conditions need the support of personal trainers to gain the benefits available from exercise.

First we have to ensure there are enough properly qualified trainers available. The NRPSPT aims to achieve this for Parkinson’s.

Then the challenge is to fund the training for those people who cannot afford it themselves. Support to exercise in the form of personal training should be built into the NHS model.

In many cases it is both more effective and cheaper than alternatives currently being used. But it does require a significant shift in thinking away from current models.

The government recently published their 10 year plan for the NHS and its shift towards a preventive model. The word ‘exercise’ appears just once!

If you would like more information on the NRPSPT, please go to NRPSPT.org , call 0800 328 5849 or email info@4dlife.org