No. Simply call or fill out our waitlist form to schedule your first visit Mobility Assessment.

Your safety is our first priority. If during your assessment, your provider identifies something in your past or current medical history that requires medical clearance from your physician, we will guide you in the next steps prior to scheduling further.

Wait times vary from days to months and are impacted by the needs of our current clients and your scheduling flexibility.

Current clients have priority scheduling and are offered the opportunity to renew halfway through their scheduled programs. While some clients complete only one or two rounds of their program before taking all the good stuff they learned to exercise on their own, others prefer to continue the benefits of individualized coaching and renew their programs continuously.

Once a client chooses not to renew their program, we then offer appointments to the next person on the wait list. We promise, these programs are worth the wait!

When you are next on the waitlist, we will reach out to you by both text and email with options to schedule your first appointment.

If we do not hear back from you within one week, we move on to the next person on the wait list.

When you are next in line, we will reach out to you by both text and email with a few available dates/times for your first visit.

Once you let us know which appointment time works best for you, we’ll call you to get scheduled and answer any questions.

If we do not hear back from you within one week, we move on to the next person on the wait list.

Scheduling is flexible and varies depending on your goals. Most clients schedule twice a week. After completing your mobility assessment, Dr. Hershberger will provide recommendations to best meet your goals.

Jumpstart is scheduled in packages of 8 or 15, one-hour visits. We highly recommend booking all 8 or 15 visits at once (instead of scheduling week to week) to ensure availability.

Once you have completed half of the visits in your package, you will have the option to renew your program. Because Parkinson’s comes with many different “seasons,” Jumpstart is available to schedule more when you need more and less when you need less. Clients may continue the program on an ongoing basis, quarterly basis, as a yearly tune up, or anything in between.

No. All of our specialized personal training programs are cash payment programs. We often receive grants through local Parkinson’s organizations which are used for partial scholarships to help reduce your participation costs. Make sure to ask if any scholarships are available when you sign up!

Payment options include cash, credit card, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and gift cards.

To help reduce fees, cash or check are greatly appreciated.

All clients must complete a one time mobility assessment that costs $200.

You will then have the option to purchase an 8 or 15 visit package. Packages are paid in full up front.

8 Visit Package: $1,000 ($125/visit)

15 Visit Package: $1650 ($110/visit)

Empower applies for grants each year and often has partial scholarships available for our exercise programs. Staff will be sure to offer any scholarships available to you when you sign up.

People who start exercising earlier experience a significantly slower decline in quality of life than those who start later.

Each year, more studies support the power of exercise to slow disease progression. Exercise is essential for people with Parkinson’s because it is neuroprotective, meaning it protects the nerves cells in your brain at risk for degeneration. In other words, exercise builds up your reserves, or strengthens, your most vulnerable cells before they experience damage.

Think of your exercise program as a long-term investment in your future. By building up your strength, balance, power and endurance reserves now, it will be much easier to benefit from your investment when you need it, compared to waiting to invest until the last minute.

First of all, congratulations! You are well on your way to protecting your brain and building up your reserves. That’s a huge advantage worth celebrating.

Yes, the JUMPSTART will benefit you. While any exercise is a good thing, not all exercise is created equal when it comes to protecting your brain. What you do and how you do to it matters.

You are already putting in the work. Now it’s time to elevate your program by making it Parkson’s specific, personalizing it to your symptoms and filling any gaps in your armor.

Exercise is the one thing thought to slow disease progression. Let’s work together to make sure the exercise you are already doing is as potent as possible.

Even when exercise is “Parkinson’s specific,” we see the most impact when your movement medicine is personalized to your symptoms, fitness level and goals.

Just as your doctor prescribes different medicines for different problems, the same concept applies to your movement medicine. Specificity matters. Exercise to improve walking looks different than exercise to improve posture which looks different than exercise to improve balance.

A similar concept applies to exercise dosage. Just as doctors prescribe medication dosages individually, for long term brain protection, achieving a consistent, moderate to high intensity dosage is key for brain health. Moderate intensity exercise for you looks different than moderate intensity for your neighbor. The same exercise may be low intensity for you but high intensity for someone else.

Expect more obvious positive impact on your daily life and likely, long term brain health, when your exercise is personalized to you compared with generalized exercise.

There are 7 elements to exercising effectively for Parkinson’s. These concepts are the foundations of PWR! training but can be applied to any exercise.

1. Big, powerful movements

2. Intensity

3. Mental challenge

4. Specific to your symptoms

5. Progressive (it should change over time)

6. Fun

7. Consistency

Our goal is that every JUMPSTART graduate :

1. Gains the peace of mind that their current program checks all the boxes

2. Empowers them with the knowledge to adjust any future exercise routine for max impact

The benefits of exercise can be thought of in two categories:

1. Neuroprotection: Protecting your brain against future degeneration

2. Neuroplasticity: forming new connections around the areas of the brain that are impacted by Parkinson’s. Imagine disconnecting the damaged wires in your brain and reconnecting with new wires to make different pathways. These new paths help you to feel and function better each day.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is a protein in your brain that promotes both neuroprotection and neuroplasticity. Think of BDNF as a fertilizer for the brain. The levels of BDNF are reduced in many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s. Exercise helps “fill up your BDNF” tank, resulting in better neuroprotection and neuroplasticity.