Top Set and Parkinson's Disease

The Effects of Top Set Training in Combination With Power Training in Subjects With Parkinson's Disease

This project will focus on improving power in adults with Parkinson's disease, since power is related to performance of daily activities and memory and decision making. The study will compare traditional power training, where the participant does all exercises as fast as possible to top set resistance training, where the participant does power training, but it is preceded by warm-up sets that progress in weight until the participant reaches 90% of the person's maximum strength. If the top set method is better than traditional power training, it could be more beneficial than existing methods in improving independence in adults with Parkinson's disease.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Confirmed diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
• Between the ages of 30-90 years of age
• A Hoehn and Yahr score of ≤3, which will be provided by the participant's medical provider within 1 year of the study's inception.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Uncontrolled cardiovascular disease that prevents participation in a training program
• Documented HIV infection or another immunodeficiency syndrome
• Other neuromuscular diseases besides Parkinson's disease
• Current musculoskeletal injury that prevents exercise.
• Having a pacemaker
• Pregnancy
• Incarcerated individuals
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score below 18