October 21, 2025 • 27 mins
Are you living with Parkinson's and finding that poor balance is restricting your confidence and daily life? In this critical, actionable episode of the Live - Parkinson's - Live an Exceptional Life podcast, we focus entirely on fall prevention strategies using targeted exercise.
Improving your balance is the single most effective way to maintain independence and safety. We dive into the specific movements and mental approaches necessary to counter the gait and stability challenges brought on by Parkinson's disease. Whether you are newly diagnosed or managing symptoms for years, these are the essential strategies you need to hear.
Key Topic Areas Covered:
- Understanding the specific reasons Parkinson's affects dynamic and static balance.
- The role of core strength in stabilizing the body and preventing unexpected falls.
- Breaking down essential low-impact exercises that directly improve gait and stability.
- How to build a consistent, effective exercise routine that fits your energy levels.
Take Action and Live an Exceptional Life
Free Resource & Newsletter: Take the next crucial step in fall prevention and safety today! Visit LiveParkinsons.com to subscribe to the free monthly Newsletter and get a copy of our dedicated guide, 9 Balance Exercises for Improving Balance.
Learn More About My Journey: To learn more about my personal journey and gain a deeper understanding of the four essential strategies for thriving with Parkinson's, get your copy of my book: Spectacular Life, 4 Essential Strategies for Living with Parkinson's.
#ParkinsonsDisease #FallPrevention #BalanceExercises #ParkinsonsExercise
#MobilityMatters #PDStrong #NeuroFitness #LiveParkinsons #PhysicalTherapy
#ParkinsonsAwareness #StrengthAndBalance #HealthPodcast
#LiveAnExceptionalLife
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
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To help support the podcast please visit me on my Ko-fi page and buy a cup of coffee if you feel that I am providing information that is relevant and actionable to help you live a better quality of life.
Please visit me at Liveparkinsons.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
Hello everyone, welcome to Live Parkinson's Live
an Exceptional Life.
I'm your host, ChrisKustemboder, and I've been
living an exceptional life withParkinson's for the past 15
years.
The mission of this podcast isto help as many people as
possible living with Parkinson'sto lead a great quality of life.
Now, today I want to talk abouta topic that really hits home to
most of us, and it's one of themost pressing concerns in the
(00:32):
Parkinson's community, andthat's balance and fall
prevention.
Because you may know somebodywith Parkinson's that has had a
fall, and we want to be able toprevent all of you from having
falls if we can.
And let's be really real aboutit.
Falling isn't just a physicalevent that's really going to
send us to the floor, but it'salso going to kill our
confidence.
(00:53):
When you have that moment ofinstability or even just that
fear, that moment can take thatyou're you lose your balance,
and that can make you want tostay in your chair, make you
want to stay home, and youreally stop living the life that
you want to live.
And we don't want to let thathappen.
So we want to make sure thatyou're active and doing the
things that you love to do.
(01:13):
So today we want to change thenarrative.
We want to move from fear toaction because really that's
what it's all about.
You taking control and takingaction to improve your balance
and your stability.
So today we're going to discussthe science behind why balance
is such a challenge withParkinson's.
And then, and this is the moreimportant part, we're going to
(01:33):
dive into specific provenexercise strategies that can
help your brain and your bodywork together to help keep you
upright, keep you confident, andkeep you moving freely to do the
things that you want to do.
Now, before we dive in, I justwant to give you a quick
reminder that always talk toyour neurologist, your movement
disorder specialist, and ifyou're using a physical
(01:54):
therapist, let them know as wellbefore starting any new exercise
routine.
They're your personal team ofexperts, and they're going to be
able to tailor strategies thatare based on your personal
needs.
All right, now let's get startedand talk about how you can
reclaim your balance and yourconfidence.
All right, so why is balancesuch a big deal with
(02:15):
Parkinson's?
Well, it really boils down tosomething that they call
postural instability or PI.
Not Magnum PI, the TV show fromback in the eight seventies or
eighties, I believe it was.
But postural instability is whatwe're going to be talking about.
So I want you to think of it asa high-tech building.
So when someone bumps and hitsthe wall or the foundation of
(02:37):
the building, a lot of timesbuildings are built so that they
can give and move so they canabsorb some of the shock.
Now, for those of us living withParkinson's, when we get bumped
or we get pushed or whateverhappens, those automatic
reflexes, so those tiny littleinstant muscle adjustments that
we need to keep our center ofgravity over our feet, well,
(03:00):
they get slowed down ordisrupted.
So our brain's command centerfor balance is in the basal
ganglia and it's struggling tosend those rapid fire
instructions.
So if you get bumped or you haveto turn too quickly, it doesn't
send those signals as rapidly asit did before.
And so a lot of times we havetrouble making those necessary
(03:21):
adjustments.
So a lot of times this is why wesee leaning or the tendency to
pitch forward or backward, andoftentimes why small stumbles
can turn into a big fall.
Now I know personally I walkingthrough the grocery store and
I'll catch my toe or my sneakeron the the linoleum, and then I
(03:42):
start to to stumble and trip.
And luckily, most of the timesI've been able to catch myself
or grab something so that Idon't fall.
But that's those, it's thoselittle stumbles that can lead to
a big fall because our center ofgravity gets displaced because
we're leaning too far forward.
And once we get our weightmoving too far forward, there's
not a great way to be able tocatch yourself.
(04:04):
So Parkinson's doesn't justaffect our movement, but it also
affects the automatic movementsthat go with it.
So it's not just about postureand stability.
We also got to deal with somethings like freezing of gait.
And if you've ever experiencedthat, it feels where your feet
are glued to the floor.
Or I've had this myself as well,where you get episodes of
(04:26):
dizziness when you stand up tooquickly.
Maybe you bend over and tie yourshoes, or you're sitting down
and you stand up quickly, andall of a sudden you're you feel
dizzy and lightheaded, andyou're thinking, what's going on
here?
That's also known as orthostatichypotension.
But here's the kicker.
Research consistently shows thatfear of falling is a huge
(04:47):
problem in the Parkinson'scommunity.
And it's that fear that's gonnamake you move smaller.
Here it's gonna make you holdyourself more stiffly, and it's
gonna reduce your activitylevel.
And we all know what happenswhen we reduce our activity
level, that our muscles aregonna get weaker, we're gonna
we're gonna be stiffer, and ourbalance reflexes are gonna get
(05:07):
slower.
So it becomes this viciouscycle.
So we're afraid of falling, sowe reduce our activity, we get
stiff and weak, and then ourbalance reflexes get slower.
So this is what we want to talkabout today, and how we can
break that fear cycle.
And that's what we're going todo.
So we know we take medication tohelp us with our motor symptoms,
(05:28):
but when it comes to directlyimproving our balance and making
those automatic reflexes firebetter, there's really only one
what I'll call non-negotiablesolution, and that's really
specialized exercises.
Because medication alone can'treplace the targeted training
that our brain needs in order torelearn balance.
(05:50):
So let's talk about some of thefundamental principles that go
into balance training.
So you might be walking on atreadmill every day, and that's
great, great for cardio, butgeneral fitness is not the same
as balance fitness.
So to improve our balance, weneed specificity.
So we need to do some exercisesthat are going to intentionally
(06:13):
challenge the three sensorysystems that our brain uses to
keep us upright.
And those three systems are,which you were probably asking
yourself, the first one isvision.
We need to be able to see wherewe're going.
And I know a lot of times ifit's I have a cabin in the
mountains and if I'm out walkingat night and there's not a lot
(06:33):
of light, I tend to stop becauseI can't see where I'm going and
I lose my sense of where I'm at.
The second is what they call thevestibular system, and that's
your inner ear sense of movementand position.
Now, if you've ever had an innerear infection, you know people
that get vertigo, that canreally mess you up because you
tend to the room tends to spin,you're very dizzy.
(06:56):
So we want to be able to work onthe vestibular system where the
inner ear sense is movement andposition.
And then the last piece isproprioception.
And I've talked about thisbefore, but it's your body's
awareness of where your arms andlegs are without looking.
So we don't need to look at ourfeet to know where our feet are
while we're walking, or we don'tneed, if we're reaching for
(07:16):
something, we don't need tonecessarily or if we're just
reaching out, we don't alwaysdon't need to grab and stare at
what we're looking at.
So those are the effectivebalance training forces, the
three of them that we need torecalibrate when we're working
on our balance training.
Now, and one of the otherfactors that comes into play is
(07:36):
neuroplasticity.
And I've talked about this onprevious podcasts, and it's a
magic word, but it's yourbrain's incredible ability to
reorganize itself by forming newconnections.
So think of it this way (07:49):
if you have a wire in your house that
goes into a bad outlet orsocket, the energy is not going
through there.
So we rewire, we can rewirearound that outlet to regain the
flow of electricity to where youwant it to go.
And that's what uh an example ofneuroplasticity would be.
So for years we thought that theadult brain was fixed.
(08:11):
Once you became an adult, therewas nothing else you could do.
Well, boy, were we wrong aboutthat.
Modern research tells us thatintensive, complex, and
challenging movement canactually induce these positive
neuroplastic changes and helpyour brain find these new
alternative routes to help uscontrol our movement and our
balance.
So that's great news.
(08:32):
So we can always retrain ourbrain to help with our balance
and our movements.
Now, Dr.
Giselle Pettinger's work at USC,and there were some other stuff,
similar studies that suggestthat exercise can improve your
brain health by increasing theblood flow and releasing what
they call trophic factors thathelp our neurons grow and
(08:52):
connect.
So essentially, your specializedbalance training is going to be
rewiring our brains forstability.
Now, another key piece that Iwanted to touch on too is the
role of strength.
A lot of times we think balanceis just, oh, we're standing up
or we're using our brain and ourvision.
But while balance is mostly anervous system skill, it rests
(09:16):
on a physical foundation of ourskeletal system and our muscles.
So you can't build a stronghouse on quicksand because it's
gonna fall, you know, sink intothe ground.
And that's why you need to havecore and leg strength, and
they're right, they're gonna bevital for your balance.
Core is your abdominal musclesand your back muscles, and then
(09:36):
you want to have strong legmuscles as well.
So your glutes, which are yourbutt muscles, the quads, the big
muscles in your thighs and yourcore, or they're gonna act as
your anchors for your wholebody.
So the stronger your legs are,the more power and stability
that you're gonna have toexecute the necessary steps and
(09:58):
weight shifts that you need whenyou start to lose your balance.
So balance training isn't justabout standing on one foot, it's
about training your entiresystem for quick, powerful, and
adaptive responses.
So you also want to make surethat you're doing some strength
training to work on your legstrength and your core strength.
(10:18):
Now, before we dive in too muchfurther, I want to talk about
the three types of balanceexercises that we can do.
And the first is verticalstability.
And this focuses specifically onimproving your ability to
maintain an upright posture.
Second, the second type isexercises, is posture.
(10:39):
That these are exercises thathelp improve the alignment of
the body and are going to helpalso reduce muscle stiffness.
And then the third type thatwe're gonna be talking about as
well is what they call stabilitywith gait.
And these are exercises thatcombine elements of stability
and gait or walking exercises toimprove your balance and walking
function.
(11:00):
So as we move forward, I want tocome back and touch on these
again, but I just want you toremember that those are the
three types of balance exercisesthat we're going to be touching
on vertical stability, posture,and then stability with gait.
Now, let's look at some concreteexamples to start.
Uh Tai Chi, it's not just abeautiful martial art, it's
really one of the most heavilyresearched and proven
(11:23):
interventions for Parkinson'sbalance.
There was a study that waspublished in the New England
Journal of Medicine way back in2012 by Fuz Hong, Li, and
colleagues, and it wasreinforced by numerous studies
that showed that Tai Chitraining was superior to
resistance training andstretching and improving your
balance and in reducing falls inpatients with mild to moderate
(11:46):
PD.
Now, in fact, there's been somemore recent systematic reviews
that have confirmed that Tai Chihas the most significant
positive impact on balance forpeople with Parkinson's.
And that was reported inFrontiers and Aging Neuroscience
in 2024.
So, why does Tai Chi work?
Well, Tai Chi emphasizes slow,deliberate weight shifts, and it
(12:10):
really teaches you to rely onankle strategies.
So there are small, quickadjustments at the ankle rather
than always stepping.
So it's mindful movement thatengages your proprioception, and
that's where your body, yourlimbs are any in space, and it
does a beautiful job at that.
And now I've personally done TaiChi and I I found it to be great
(12:33):
for my balance.
I've it was great forflexibility, and it's great to
get your mind to slow down andyou slow your breathing down.
So it's really mindful movement.
So it's a great exercise.
So if you haven't tried it, it'sa great way to improve your
balance.
Now, next up is one of myfavorite components for real
(12:55):
life safety, and that's dualtasking.
So if you think about a fall inreal life, you probably weren't
just walking and all of a suddenyou tripped and fell.
A lot of times we're walking andtalking, or we're walking and
we're reaching into our pocketfor our keys, or we're looking
at our phone.
For example, my wife and I werewent on a nature hike this past
(13:18):
weekend and with her with mybrother and sister-in-law, and
she was walking, looking down ather phone and tripped over root
and and fell.
So a lot of times it's we'redoing not just walking, but
we're doing something else atthe same time.
So why this is important is thatin PD, combining a cognitive
(13:39):
task with a motor task oftenleads to degraded performance.
So if we're doing walking andtalking or walking and looking
at a phone, that increases ourrisk of falling because we're
not paying attention to whatwe're doing.
So we need to train our brain bydoing dual tasking exercises
(13:59):
that are going to deliberatelychallenge us to move our body
while moving our brain orworking on our brain at the same
time.
So examples might be you'rewalking down a hallway while at
the same time you're spelling aword forward and backward, or
you're practicing standing onone foot while you're throwing a
small ball against the wall, oryou're doing lunges across the
(14:24):
floor while you're countingbackwards from 100 by sevens.
So those would be all examplesof dual tasking exercises,
taking a mental and a physicalexercise and combining them.
Those are great exercises tohelp us work on making sure that
we can do two things at one timeto help us prevent falls.
And then the other piece isagility and dynamic movement.
(14:48):
And if you think about it,balance is all about agility.
How fast can you train changedirections or recover from a
trip?
I'll give you an ex personalexample.
I have a boxer dog named Katie,and she always likes to be where
I'm at.
And if I'm out in the kitchenand I'm making something, a lot
of times she'll walk up behindme.
And if I don't hear or see hercoming, I turn around quickly,
(15:10):
and there she is.
And I have to adjust my movementand my body to be able to make
sure that I don't fall.
And so I have to be able toadjust to those quick changes.
And a lot of times, if youyou're walking through the store
and you catch your foot and youstumble, you need to be able to
make those quick actions to beable to catch yourself.
Or if you accidentally step offa curb or you miss a step, you
(15:31):
know, that can be a big problemas well.
So you need to be able to learnhow to change direction quickly
and recover if you do happen totrip.
And this is where programs likedance come into play, especially
tango is a good one because thatrequires you to make uh quick
weight shifts.
But or Parkinson's non-contactboxing.
(15:52):
There's a lot of differentboxing programs out there, but
boxing is a great way to teachyou to keep your center of
gravity over your core and yourfeet and do that while you're
moving.
I really I take boxing and Iwork on that as being able to
move diagonally forward andbackwards while keeping my
center of gravity over top of mylegs.
(16:14):
These exercises are going totrain your body to reaction
time.
So if you trip on a rug or youneed some lightning fast
reaction to catch yourself,agility drills like weaving
through cones or doing somerapid stepping, what they do is
they teach your brain toinitiate those types of
protective steps in a quickmanner.
And then finally, we need tochallenge the environment and we
(16:36):
need to challenge our sensoryinputs.
So if you're one of the thingsyou can do with this is stand on
an unstable surface like a softpad or a small pillow, because
what it does is it removes thatreliability of, oh, this is a
hard, flat floor, and it forcesyour vestibular and your
proprioceptive systems to workharder.
(16:57):
So they have to understand whereyou are because you're not
standing on a stable surface,you're standing on an unstable
surface.
So this is going to help prepareyour body for those unexpected
events like stepping on over anuneven pavement.
Maybe you're stepping over oneof those parking blocks.
So anytime something happens oryou're walking across a thick
rug, so you need to be able toadjust to those, and work
(17:19):
walking on unstable surfaces isgoing to help you to do that.
All right.
Now let's talk about somepractical applications of
balance exercises that you cando at home.
Now remember, you don't need afull gym and all kinds of
equipment to get started.
So I want to just give you someexamples of some safe exercises
that you can do today at home.
(17:42):
And there is one non-negotiablethat I want to talk about, and
that's always safety first.
So make sure that when you firststart, you're holding on to
something stable, whether it bea counter, the wall, a spot or
someone to help you.
Safety is going to be yourprimary goal when you do these.
As you get better, then maybeyou can go one finger, two
(18:04):
finger, three finger, those typeof things, but always make sure
that you practice safety first.
All right, let's talk about somedifferent types of exercises.
And let's start with I talkedabout the three different types
of balance exercises (18:15):
stability with gait, postural, and
vertical stability.
And let's start with postural.
Some of the one of the best waysto do postural exercises is to
do chair squats or what theycall sit-to-stand.
So sit in the chair with yourfeet flat on the floor and then
stand up.
And you may need to hold onto acounter or something like that
(18:38):
to help you up.
But do those several times,going from a sitting to a
standing position.
That's going to help with yourpostural stability.
Another one is lunges, where youcan you don't have to move
across the floor.
You can do a forward lunge whereyou step forward and bending
your front leg, bending yourback leg, and then coming back
(19:01):
to an upright position.
And again, when you're doingthese, make sure that you have
something to hold on to forstability, whether it be a
counter or someone to help you.
And then another one would befor postural stability, would be
single leg stance with reaching.
So if you stand with both feeton the floor, if you reach with
(19:22):
one hand and gently lift yourfoot off the ground, then you
may have to hold on to somethingstable with your other hand.
And then do the opposite side,do the same thing.
So it's you're shifting yourweight, reaching for something
while gently lifting your footoff the floor.
And at first, maybe you havetrouble lifting your foot off
the floor, and that's okay.
You can just reach and hold, butyou're practicing learning to
(19:46):
shift your weight.
And if you do, you want to makesure that you do both sides.
So it's always what you do toone side, you always do to the
other.
All right, now let's talk aboutthe second type of bounce
exercise, and that's stabilitywith gait.
And one of the things you can dois what they call tandem walking
or heel to toe.
And again, you're going to wantto hold onto the wall or onto a
(20:07):
counter, but you're going to putone foot in front of the other
so that the heel of your frontfoot is touching the toe of your
back foot.
And then you're going to want tobring just like you're walking
on a painted line.
So put one foot heel to toe,second foot, heel to toe, and
practice that at walking acrossa surface.
(20:28):
So you might need to hold on tothe wall, have walking poles, or
have someone there spotting you.
Another would be backwardwalking.
And again, you're definitelygoing to want to have help with
this.
And you want to, as you'rewalking backwards, you want
somebody there to spot you.
And if you need to hold on tosomething, the wall or whatever
it needs to be, but remembersafety first.
(20:49):
And that's just practicingwalking backwards so that you're
training your brain to go bothforward and backwards.
All right, next up is verticalstability, and that's the third
one.
And a couple exercises you cando here are sidestepping, where
you just practice stepping tothe side.
(21:11):
If you stand with your feet,shoulder width apart, step with
your right foot to one side,bring it in, step with your left
foot to the other side, bring itin.
So practice sidestepping.
And you can you can keep goingif you eventually as you get
better and wanted to do thiswith movement, you can hold on
to uh you get some poles andhave someone spot you and just
(21:33):
sidestep to the right, sidestepback to the left.
The next one is lateral weightshift, and you can do this
essentially by learning to shiftyour weight.
So if you reach up like you'reputting something on a shelf
that's to the left, and then dothe same thing to the right,
(21:54):
you're working on shifting yourbody from one side to the other
so that if you do get bumped orknocked over, your your body is
used to making thoseadjustments, like, oh, my weight
just shifted, I need to make acorrection.
So those would be some examplesof balance exercises that you
can do in the three types ofcategories.
(22:14):
So another one would be singleleg stance, and that's where you
stand on one leg and you startby holding it onto a stable
surface.
Then as you improve, maybe yougo down to three fingers and
then eventually two fingers andthen one finger.
And then one of the nice thingstoo is that you can time these
as well.
Maybe the maybe when you firststart, you can only do it for
three seconds, and then butmaybe a month or two months from
(22:37):
now, you'll say, Wow, I can Ican do this for almost a minute
because I've been practicing itevery single day.
So those would be some examplesof practical applications that
you can do it at home.
Now I want you to remember thatconsistency is key.
So your brain is going to adaptthrough repetition.
So aim to do these balancechallenges.
(22:59):
You can do them throughout theday, but you can also have a
dedicated session.
So I'm going to spend 15 minutesa day working on balance
exercises.
You can also do them whileyou're doing activities around
the house.
So, for instance, you can dostand on one leg while you're
brushing your teeth, holdholding on to the counter.
That's called the flamingostance.
(23:19):
Or while you're making some teaor coffee, stand on with your
feet on the together, and thenjust practice lifting your heels
and doing heel raises.
That's another good way topractice your balance.
Now, you always want to rememberthat the challenge should be at
the edge of your capacity.
You don't want to make it tooeasy because it's not gonna,
you're not gonna see a benefit,but then you don't want to make
(23:41):
it dangerously hard either.
So you want to continually pushyourself to the edge of your
capacity because that's howyou're gonna get better and
that's what's gonna trigger theneuroplasticity.
But again, always do it in asafe manner and always make sure
that your doctor's aware of whatyou're doing.
Now, if you're experiencingfrequent falls or you just have
a lot of anxiety about falling,there's a lot of specialists out
(24:04):
there that can help you.
So you can make talk to yourmovement disorder specialist or
your neurologist about thefalls, and they can connect you
with a physical therapist whospecializes in movement
disorders, and they can help youwith programs that are certified
like the LSVT Big program or thePower PWR program.
(24:25):
I've done both programs and Ihighly recommend them.
They're great for balance,they're great for stability,
they're great for improving yourleg strength.
You do a lot of lateralmovements, you do a lot of
forward and backward movements,twisting.
So all the things that arenecessary for balance, those are
going to be included in there.
And they can also provide acustomized fall risk assessment
(24:47):
and give you a personalized planto help you train safely and
effectively when you're notthere.
So seek professional help whenyou need it.
And then if you have anxietyabout falling, talk to a mental
health professional.
One of the things I did and Italked about in a previous
podcast was cognitive behavioraltherapy, and that really helps
address anxiety issues becauseyou're retraining your brain in
(25:10):
the way you think about it.
So please seek professional helpwhen you can.
All right, now we've covered alot today, and I just want to
touch on the big takeaways.
And number one was that balanceissues are a complex part of
Parkinson's, but they'reabsolutely trainable.
That's what I want you to walkaway with.
You know, you don't have to say,well, I have poor balance
because that's something thatyou can train and it's something
(25:32):
that you can work on.
Number two is that specializedexercise, things like Tai Chi
and doing those dual tasks thatwe talked about, they can
literally rewire your brainthrough neuroplasticity to help
improve your reflexes.
And then those different typesof exercises that we talked
about, postural exercises,stability with gait exercises,
(25:54):
and vertical stability exercisesare all very important.
And remember, you want toinclude things where you're
shifting your weight, you'rereaching, you're turning,
because all those things areimportant in balance.
And don't forget leg strengthand core strength are key as
well.
And then finally, you want toalways prioritize safety and
consistency because that's goingto be your superpower.
(26:16):
Consistency and safety.
All right.
You have the power to reducefall risk, but more importantly,
to dramatically increase yourconfidence.
So don't let the fear of fallingdictate how you're going to live
your life.
You want to start small today,work on these balance exercises,
you want to be consistent, butmost of all, just keep moving
(26:37):
because the more you move, thebetter you're going to get at
it.
If you want additionalinformation on balance training,
if you visit liveparkinsons.com,not only can you sign up for the
free monthly newsletter, but uhthere's also on there nine
balance exercises to help withyour balance.
And I it includes the verticalstability, postural stability,
and stability with gait.
(26:58):
So if you're looking forsomething there.
And then also go to theParkinson's Foundation.
They've got good information onbalance as well as the Davis
Finney Foundation and theMichael J.
Fox Foundation.
I want to thank you forlistening today, and hopefully
you walk away with someactionable things that you can
do at home to help you improveyour balance because really
that's what it's all about.
(27:19):
I want you to stay safe, but Iwant you to be able to go out
and do the things that you wantto do without the fear of
falling.
So until next time, stayhealthy, stay strong, and keep
living your best life becauseyou have the ability to do it
and you have the ability totrain your your balance.
Thanks again, and I will see yousoon.
Hello everyone, welcome to Live Parkinson's Live
an Exceptional Life.
I'm your host, ChrisKustemboder, and I've been
living an exceptional life withParkinson's for the past 15
years.
The mission of this podcast isto help as many people as
possible living with Parkinson'sto lead a great quality of life.
Now, today I want to talk abouta topic that really hits home to
most of us, and it's one of themost pressing concerns in the
(00:32):
Parkinson's community, andthat's balance and fall
prevention.
Because you may know somebodywith Parkinson's that has had a
fall, and we want to be able toprevent all of you from having
falls if we can.
And let's be really real aboutit.
Falling isn't just a physicalevent that's really going to
send us to the floor, but it'salso going to kill our
confidence.
(00:53):
When you have that moment ofinstability or even just that
fear, that moment can take thatyou're you lose your balance,
and that can make you want tostay in your chair, make you
want to stay home, and youreally stop living the life that
you want to live.
And we don't want to let thathappen.
So we want to make sure thatyou're active and doing the
things that you love to do.
(01:13):
So today we want to change thenarrative.
We want to move from fear toaction because really that's
what it's all about.
You taking control and takingaction to improve your balance
and your stability.
So today we're going to discussthe science behind why balance
is such a challenge withParkinson's.
And then, and this is the moreimportant part, we're going to
(01:33):
dive into specific provenexercise strategies that can
help your brain and your bodywork together to help keep you
upright, keep you confident, andkeep you moving freely to do the
things that you want to do.
Now, before we dive in, I justwant to give you a quick
reminder that always talk toyour neurologist, your movement
disorder specialist, and ifyou're using a physical
(01:54):
therapist, let them know as wellbefore starting any new exercise
routine.
They're your personal team ofexperts, and they're going to be
able to tailor strategies thatare based on your personal
needs.
All right, now let's get startedand talk about how you can
reclaim your balance and yourconfidence.
All right, so why is balancesuch a big deal with
(02:15):
Parkinson's?
Well, it really boils down tosomething that they call
postural instability or PI.
Not Magnum PI, the TV show fromback in the eight seventies or
eighties, I believe it was.
But postural instability is whatwe're going to be talking about.
So I want you to think of it asa high-tech building.
So when someone bumps and hitsthe wall or the foundation of
(02:37):
the building, a lot of timesbuildings are built so that they
can give and move so they canabsorb some of the shock.
Now, for those of us living withParkinson's, when we get bumped
or we get pushed or whateverhappens, those automatic
reflexes, so those tiny littleinstant muscle adjustments that
we need to keep our center ofgravity over our feet, well,
(03:00):
they get slowed down ordisrupted.
So our brain's command centerfor balance is in the basal
ganglia and it's struggling tosend those rapid fire
instructions.
So if you get bumped or you haveto turn too quickly, it doesn't
send those signals as rapidly asit did before.
And so a lot of times we havetrouble making those necessary
(03:21):
adjustments.
So a lot of times this is why wesee leaning or the tendency to
pitch forward or backward, andoftentimes why small stumbles
can turn into a big fall.
Now I know personally I walkingthrough the grocery store and
I'll catch my toe or my sneakeron the the linoleum, and then I
(03:42):
start to to stumble and trip.
And luckily, most of the timesI've been able to catch myself
or grab something so that Idon't fall.
But that's those, it's thoselittle stumbles that can lead to
a big fall because our center ofgravity gets displaced because
we're leaning too far forward.
And once we get our weightmoving too far forward, there's
not a great way to be able tocatch yourself.
(04:04):
So Parkinson's doesn't justaffect our movement, but it also
affects the automatic movementsthat go with it.
So it's not just about postureand stability.
We also got to deal with somethings like freezing of gait.
And if you've ever experiencedthat, it feels where your feet
are glued to the floor.
Or I've had this myself as well,where you get episodes of
(04:26):
dizziness when you stand up tooquickly.
Maybe you bend over and tie yourshoes, or you're sitting down
and you stand up quickly, andall of a sudden you're you feel
dizzy and lightheaded, andyou're thinking, what's going on
here?
That's also known as orthostatichypotension.
But here's the kicker.
Research consistently shows thatfear of falling is a huge
(04:47):
problem in the Parkinson'scommunity.
And it's that fear that's gonnamake you move smaller.
Here it's gonna make you holdyourself more stiffly, and it's
gonna reduce your activitylevel.
And we all know what happenswhen we reduce our activity
level, that our muscles aregonna get weaker, we're gonna
we're gonna be stiffer, and ourbalance reflexes are gonna get
(05:07):
slower.
So it becomes this viciouscycle.
So we're afraid of falling, sowe reduce our activity, we get
stiff and weak, and then ourbalance reflexes get slower.
So this is what we want to talkabout today, and how we can
break that fear cycle.
And that's what we're going todo.
So we know we take medication tohelp us with our motor symptoms,
(05:28):
but when it comes to directlyimproving our balance and making
those automatic reflexes firebetter, there's really only one
what I'll call non-negotiablesolution, and that's really
specialized exercises.
Because medication alone can'treplace the targeted training
that our brain needs in order torelearn balance.
(05:50):
So let's talk about some of thefundamental principles that go
into balance training.
So you might be walking on atreadmill every day, and that's
great, great for cardio, butgeneral fitness is not the same
as balance fitness.
So to improve our balance, weneed specificity.
So we need to do some exercisesthat are going to intentionally
(06:13):
challenge the three sensorysystems that our brain uses to
keep us upright.
And those three systems are,which you were probably asking
yourself, the first one isvision.
We need to be able to see wherewe're going.
And I know a lot of times ifit's I have a cabin in the
mountains and if I'm out walkingat night and there's not a lot
(06:33):
of light, I tend to stop becauseI can't see where I'm going and
I lose my sense of where I'm at.
The second is what they call thevestibular system, and that's
your inner ear sense of movementand position.
Now, if you've ever had an innerear infection, you know people
that get vertigo, that canreally mess you up because you
tend to the room tends to spin,you're very dizzy.
(06:56):
So we want to be able to work onthe vestibular system where the
inner ear sense is movement andposition.
And then the last piece isproprioception.
And I've talked about thisbefore, but it's your body's
awareness of where your arms andlegs are without looking.
So we don't need to look at ourfeet to know where our feet are
while we're walking, or we don'tneed, if we're reaching for
(07:16):
something, we don't need tonecessarily or if we're just
reaching out, we don't alwaysdon't need to grab and stare at
what we're looking at.
So those are the effectivebalance training forces, the
three of them that we need torecalibrate when we're working
on our balance training.
Now, and one of the otherfactors that comes into play is
(07:36):
neuroplasticity.
And I've talked about this onprevious podcasts, and it's a
magic word, but it's yourbrain's incredible ability to
reorganize itself by forming newconnections.
So think of it this way (07:49):
if you have a wire in your house that
goes into a bad outlet orsocket, the energy is not going
through there.
So we rewire, we can rewirearound that outlet to regain the
flow of electricity to where youwant it to go.
And that's what uh an example ofneuroplasticity would be.
So for years we thought that theadult brain was fixed.
(08:11):
Once you became an adult, therewas nothing else you could do.
Well, boy, were we wrong aboutthat.
Modern research tells us thatintensive, complex, and
challenging movement canactually induce these positive
neuroplastic changes and helpyour brain find these new
alternative routes to help uscontrol our movement and our
balance.
So that's great news.
(08:32):
So we can always retrain ourbrain to help with our balance
and our movements.
Now, Dr.
Giselle Pettinger's work at USC,and there were some other stuff,
similar studies that suggestthat exercise can improve your
brain health by increasing theblood flow and releasing what
they call trophic factors thathelp our neurons grow and
(08:52):
connect.
So essentially, your specializedbalance training is going to be
rewiring our brains forstability.
Now, another key piece that Iwanted to touch on too is the
role of strength.
A lot of times we think balanceis just, oh, we're standing up
or we're using our brain and ourvision.
But while balance is mostly anervous system skill, it rests
(09:16):
on a physical foundation of ourskeletal system and our muscles.
So you can't build a stronghouse on quicksand because it's
gonna fall, you know, sink intothe ground.
And that's why you need to havecore and leg strength, and
they're right, they're gonna bevital for your balance.
Core is your abdominal musclesand your back muscles, and then
(09:36):
you want to have strong legmuscles as well.
So your glutes, which are yourbutt muscles, the quads, the big
muscles in your thighs and yourcore, or they're gonna act as
your anchors for your wholebody.
So the stronger your legs are,the more power and stability
that you're gonna have toexecute the necessary steps and
(09:58):
weight shifts that you need whenyou start to lose your balance.
So balance training isn't justabout standing on one foot, it's
about training your entiresystem for quick, powerful, and
adaptive responses.
So you also want to make surethat you're doing some strength
training to work on your legstrength and your core strength.
(10:18):
Now, before we dive in too muchfurther, I want to talk about
the three types of balanceexercises that we can do.
And the first is verticalstability.
And this focuses specifically onimproving your ability to
maintain an upright posture.
Second, the second type isexercises, is posture.
(10:39):
That these are exercises thathelp improve the alignment of
the body and are going to helpalso reduce muscle stiffness.
And then the third type thatwe're gonna be talking about as
well is what they call stabilitywith gait.
And these are exercises thatcombine elements of stability
and gait or walking exercises toimprove your balance and walking
function.
(11:00):
So as we move forward, I want tocome back and touch on these
again, but I just want you toremember that those are the
three types of balance exercisesthat we're going to be touching
on vertical stability, posture,and then stability with gait.
Now, let's look at some concreteexamples to start.
Uh Tai Chi, it's not just abeautiful martial art, it's
really one of the most heavilyresearched and proven
(11:23):
interventions for Parkinson'sbalance.
There was a study that waspublished in the New England
Journal of Medicine way back in2012 by Fuz Hong, Li, and
colleagues, and it wasreinforced by numerous studies
that showed that Tai Chitraining was superior to
resistance training andstretching and improving your
balance and in reducing falls inpatients with mild to moderate
(11:46):
PD.
Now, in fact, there's been somemore recent systematic reviews
that have confirmed that Tai Chihas the most significant
positive impact on balance forpeople with Parkinson's.
And that was reported inFrontiers and Aging Neuroscience
in 2024.
So, why does Tai Chi work?
Well, Tai Chi emphasizes slow,deliberate weight shifts, and it
(12:10):
really teaches you to rely onankle strategies.
So there are small, quickadjustments at the ankle rather
than always stepping.
So it's mindful movement thatengages your proprioception, and
that's where your body, yourlimbs are any in space, and it
does a beautiful job at that.
And now I've personally done TaiChi and I I found it to be great
(12:33):
for my balance.
I've it was great forflexibility, and it's great to
get your mind to slow down andyou slow your breathing down.
So it's really mindful movement.
So it's a great exercise.
So if you haven't tried it, it'sa great way to improve your
balance.
Now, next up is one of myfavorite components for real
(12:55):
life safety, and that's dualtasking.
So if you think about a fall inreal life, you probably weren't
just walking and all of a suddenyou tripped and fell.
A lot of times we're walking andtalking, or we're walking and
we're reaching into our pocketfor our keys, or we're looking
at our phone.
For example, my wife and I werewent on a nature hike this past
(13:18):
weekend and with her with mybrother and sister-in-law, and
she was walking, looking down ather phone and tripped over root
and and fell.
So a lot of times it's we'redoing not just walking, but
we're doing something else atthe same time.
So why this is important is thatin PD, combining a cognitive
(13:39):
task with a motor task oftenleads to degraded performance.
So if we're doing walking andtalking or walking and looking
at a phone, that increases ourrisk of falling because we're
not paying attention to whatwe're doing.
So we need to train our brain bydoing dual tasking exercises
(13:59):
that are going to deliberatelychallenge us to move our body
while moving our brain orworking on our brain at the same
time.
So examples might be you'rewalking down a hallway while at
the same time you're spelling aword forward and backward, or
you're practicing standing onone foot while you're throwing a
small ball against the wall, oryou're doing lunges across the
(14:24):
floor while you're countingbackwards from 100 by sevens.
So those would be all examplesof dual tasking exercises,
taking a mental and a physicalexercise and combining them.
Those are great exercises tohelp us work on making sure that
we can do two things at one timeto help us prevent falls.
And then the other piece isagility and dynamic movement.
(14:48):
And if you think about it,balance is all about agility.
How fast can you train changedirections or recover from a
trip?
I'll give you an ex personalexample.
I have a boxer dog named Katie,and she always likes to be where
I'm at.
And if I'm out in the kitchenand I'm making something, a lot
of times she'll walk up behindme.
And if I don't hear or see hercoming, I turn around quickly,
(15:10):
and there she is.
And I have to adjust my movementand my body to be able to make
sure that I don't fall.
And so I have to be able toadjust to those quick changes.
And a lot of times, if youyou're walking through the store
and you catch your foot and youstumble, you need to be able to
make those quick actions to beable to catch yourself.
Or if you accidentally step offa curb or you miss a step, you
(15:31):
know, that can be a big problemas well.
So you need to be able to learnhow to change direction quickly
and recover if you do happen totrip.
And this is where programs likedance come into play, especially
tango is a good one because thatrequires you to make uh quick
weight shifts.
But or Parkinson's non-contactboxing.
(15:52):
There's a lot of differentboxing programs out there, but
boxing is a great way to teachyou to keep your center of
gravity over your core and yourfeet and do that while you're
moving.
I really I take boxing and Iwork on that as being able to
move diagonally forward andbackwards while keeping my
center of gravity over top of mylegs.
(16:14):
These exercises are going totrain your body to reaction
time.
So if you trip on a rug or youneed some lightning fast
reaction to catch yourself,agility drills like weaving
through cones or doing somerapid stepping, what they do is
they teach your brain toinitiate those types of
protective steps in a quickmanner.
And then finally, we need tochallenge the environment and we
(16:36):
need to challenge our sensoryinputs.
So if you're one of the thingsyou can do with this is stand on
an unstable surface like a softpad or a small pillow, because
what it does is it removes thatreliability of, oh, this is a
hard, flat floor, and it forcesyour vestibular and your
proprioceptive systems to workharder.
(16:57):
So they have to understand whereyou are because you're not
standing on a stable surface,you're standing on an unstable
surface.
So this is going to help prepareyour body for those unexpected
events like stepping on over anuneven pavement.
Maybe you're stepping over oneof those parking blocks.
So anytime something happens oryou're walking across a thick
rug, so you need to be able toadjust to those, and work
(17:19):
walking on unstable surfaces isgoing to help you to do that.
All right.
Now let's talk about somepractical applications of
balance exercises that you cando at home.
Now remember, you don't need afull gym and all kinds of
equipment to get started.
So I want to just give you someexamples of some safe exercises
that you can do today at home.
(17:42):
And there is one non-negotiablethat I want to talk about, and
that's always safety first.
So make sure that when you firststart, you're holding on to
something stable, whether it bea counter, the wall, a spot or
someone to help you.
Safety is going to be yourprimary goal when you do these.
As you get better, then maybeyou can go one finger, two
(18:04):
finger, three finger, those typeof things, but always make sure
that you practice safety first.
All right, let's talk about somedifferent types of exercises.
And let's start with I talkedabout the three different types
of balance exercises (18:15):
stability with gait, postural, and
vertical stability.
And let's start with postural.
Some of the one of the best waysto do postural exercises is to
do chair squats or what theycall sit-to-stand.
So sit in the chair with yourfeet flat on the floor and then
stand up.
And you may need to hold onto acounter or something like that
(18:38):
to help you up.
But do those several times,going from a sitting to a
standing position.
That's going to help with yourpostural stability.
Another one is lunges, where youcan you don't have to move
across the floor.
You can do a forward lunge whereyou step forward and bending
your front leg, bending yourback leg, and then coming back
(19:01):
to an upright position.
And again, when you're doingthese, make sure that you have
something to hold on to forstability, whether it be a
counter or someone to help you.
And then another one would befor postural stability, would be
single leg stance with reaching.
So if you stand with both feeton the floor, if you reach with
(19:22):
one hand and gently lift yourfoot off the ground, then you
may have to hold on to somethingstable with your other hand.
And then do the opposite side,do the same thing.
So it's you're shifting yourweight, reaching for something
while gently lifting your footoff the floor.
And at first, maybe you havetrouble lifting your foot off
the floor, and that's okay.
You can just reach and hold, butyou're practicing learning to
(19:46):
shift your weight.
And if you do, you want to makesure that you do both sides.
So it's always what you do toone side, you always do to the
other.
All right, now let's talk aboutthe second type of bounce
exercise, and that's stabilitywith gait.
And one of the things you can dois what they call tandem walking
or heel to toe.
And again, you're going to wantto hold onto the wall or onto a
(20:07):
counter, but you're going to putone foot in front of the other
so that the heel of your frontfoot is touching the toe of your
back foot.
And then you're going to want tobring just like you're walking
on a painted line.
So put one foot heel to toe,second foot, heel to toe, and
practice that at walking acrossa surface.
(20:28):
So you might need to hold on tothe wall, have walking poles, or
have someone there spotting you.
Another would be backwardwalking.
And again, you're definitelygoing to want to have help with
this.
And you want to, as you'rewalking backwards, you want
somebody there to spot you.
And if you need to hold on tosomething, the wall or whatever
it needs to be, but remembersafety first.
(20:49):
And that's just practicingwalking backwards so that you're
training your brain to go bothforward and backwards.
All right, next up is verticalstability, and that's the third
one.
And a couple exercises you cando here are sidestepping, where
you just practice stepping tothe side.
(21:11):
If you stand with your feet,shoulder width apart, step with
your right foot to one side,bring it in, step with your left
foot to the other side, bring itin.
So practice sidestepping.
And you can you can keep goingif you eventually as you get
better and wanted to do thiswith movement, you can hold on
to uh you get some poles andhave someone spot you and just
(21:33):
sidestep to the right, sidestepback to the left.
The next one is lateral weightshift, and you can do this
essentially by learning to shiftyour weight.
So if you reach up like you'reputting something on a shelf
that's to the left, and then dothe same thing to the right,
(21:54):
you're working on shifting yourbody from one side to the other
so that if you do get bumped orknocked over, your your body is
used to making thoseadjustments, like, oh, my weight
just shifted, I need to make acorrection.
So those would be some examplesof balance exercises that you
can do in the three types ofcategories.
(22:14):
So another one would be singleleg stance, and that's where you
stand on one leg and you startby holding it onto a stable
surface.
Then as you improve, maybe yougo down to three fingers and
then eventually two fingers andthen one finger.
And then one of the nice thingstoo is that you can time these
as well.
Maybe the maybe when you firststart, you can only do it for
three seconds, and then butmaybe a month or two months from
(22:37):
now, you'll say, Wow, I can Ican do this for almost a minute
because I've been practicing itevery single day.
So those would be some examplesof practical applications that
you can do it at home.
Now I want you to remember thatconsistency is key.
So your brain is going to adaptthrough repetition.
So aim to do these balancechallenges.
(22:59):
You can do them throughout theday, but you can also have a
dedicated session.
So I'm going to spend 15 minutesa day working on balance
exercises.
You can also do them whileyou're doing activities around
the house.
So, for instance, you can dostand on one leg while you're
brushing your teeth, holdholding on to the counter.
That's called the flamingostance.
(23:19):
Or while you're making some teaor coffee, stand on with your
feet on the together, and thenjust practice lifting your heels
and doing heel raises.
That's another good way topractice your balance.
Now, you always want to rememberthat the challenge should be at
the edge of your capacity.
You don't want to make it tooeasy because it's not gonna,
you're not gonna see a benefit,but then you don't want to make
(23:41):
it dangerously hard either.
So you want to continually pushyourself to the edge of your
capacity because that's howyou're gonna get better and
that's what's gonna trigger theneuroplasticity.
But again, always do it in asafe manner and always make sure
that your doctor's aware of whatyou're doing.
Now, if you're experiencingfrequent falls or you just have
a lot of anxiety about falling,there's a lot of specialists out
(24:04):
there that can help you.
So you can make talk to yourmovement disorder specialist or
your neurologist about thefalls, and they can connect you
with a physical therapist whospecializes in movement
disorders, and they can help youwith programs that are certified
like the LSVT Big program or thePower PWR program.
(24:25):
I've done both programs and Ihighly recommend them.
They're great for balance,they're great for stability,
they're great for improving yourleg strength.
You do a lot of lateralmovements, you do a lot of
forward and backward movements,twisting.
So all the things that arenecessary for balance, those are
going to be included in there.
And they can also provide acustomized fall risk assessment
(24:47):
and give you a personalized planto help you train safely and
effectively when you're notthere.
So seek professional help whenyou need it.
And then if you have anxietyabout falling, talk to a mental
health professional.
One of the things I did and Italked about in a previous
podcast was cognitive behavioraltherapy, and that really helps
address anxiety issues becauseyou're retraining your brain in
(25:10):
the way you think about it.
So please seek professional helpwhen you can.
All right, now we've covered alot today, and I just want to
touch on the big takeaways.
And number one was that balanceissues are a complex part of
Parkinson's, but they'reabsolutely trainable.
That's what I want you to walkaway with.
You know, you don't have to say,well, I have poor balance
because that's something thatyou can train and it's something
(25:32):
that you can work on.
Number two is that specializedexercise, things like Tai Chi
and doing those dual tasks thatwe talked about, they can
literally rewire your brainthrough neuroplasticity to help
improve your reflexes.
And then those different typesof exercises that we talked
about, postural exercises,stability with gait exercises,
(25:54):
and vertical stability exercisesare all very important.
And remember, you want toinclude things where you're
shifting your weight, you'rereaching, you're turning,
because all those things areimportant in balance.
And don't forget leg strengthand core strength are key as
well.
And then finally, you want toalways prioritize safety and
consistency because that's goingto be your superpower.
(26:16):
Consistency and safety.
All right.
You have the power to reducefall risk, but more importantly,
to dramatically increase yourconfidence.
So don't let the fear of fallingdictate how you're going to live
your life.
You want to start small today,work on these balance exercises,
you want to be consistent, butmost of all, just keep moving
(26:37):
because the more you move, thebetter you're going to get at
it.
If you want additionalinformation on balance training,
if you visit liveparkinsons.com,not only can you sign up for the
free monthly newsletter, but uhthere's also on there nine
balance exercises to help withyour balance.
And I it includes the verticalstability, postural stability,
and stability with gait.
(26:58):
So if you're looking forsomething there.
And then also go to theParkinson's Foundation.
They've got good information onbalance as well as the Davis
Finney Foundation and theMichael J.
Fox Foundation.
I want to thank you forlistening today, and hopefully
you walk away with someactionable things that you can
do at home to help you improveyour balance because really
that's what it's all about.
(27:19):
I want you to stay safe, but Iwant you to be able to go out
and do the things that you wantto do without the fear of
falling.
So until next time, stayhealthy, stay strong, and keep
living your best life becauseyou have the ability to do it
and you have the ability totrain your your balance.
Thanks again, and I will see yousoon.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.