Staying In Motion With Alzheimer's

Many of us dread the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease as we get older.
And it can even attack us even before we turn 60.
But Alzheimer’s dementia doesn’t mean we have to stop living.
Terry Hillegas is originally from Escanaba.
He’s an accomplished athlete and derives a great deal of joy from physical activity.
Terry was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago, in his 50’s.
He was helping care for an elderly woman he knew after her husband passed away.
She had the disease, and says he eventually came to realize that he had what she had.
Terry is staying in Marquette while his family moves from Colorado to Virginia.
His sister, Nancy Rolig-Todd, thought Motions Personal Training could help Terry while he was in town.
Terry has been working with Travis Alexander at Motions.
Travis has been researching Alzheimer’s.
He’s made some modifications to the routines he suggests for most of his clients, emphasizing complex, coordinated movements.
He says the main purpose is to keep the heart rate up, because that stimulates the brain and makes the neural pathways in the brain re-connect with one another.
Nancy told Ruth Almen of the Alzheimer’s association about what Travis is doing with terry.
Ruth says she loves it because it emphasizes the idea that people with Alzheimer’s can still make decisions about how they’ll live.
And when those choices start to become difficult, this kind of work can provide an example to the people close to an Alzheimer’s patient of what things are important to the patient.
Terry hopes to continue training with Travis even after he joins his wife and his young children in Virginia.
Travis says Motions can likely help with that by arranging a package deal on training sessions over the Internet, using Skype.

Posted by: Mike Hoey