Lorrie Karn has spent 36 years working in fitness and wellness, much of it with people who need exercise adapted to their individual abilities.
Today, she directs Benefitness Adaptive Gym and is completing her doctorate in Health & Wellness Psychology, where she is studying the benefits of exercise for people with movement disorders. She works with people across a wide range of ages and abilities, including people at different stages of Parkinson’s.
Eric and Lorrie talk about how Parkinson’s can change posture, gait, spatial awareness, and the connection between the brain and body. They also get into forced exercise, boxing, pickleball, jiu-jitsu, dancing, group training, and how to find the right kind of movement for where you are right now.
Key Takeaways
➡️ The best exercise is the one you’ll actually do.
Lorrie’s research found benefits across different types of exercise. For someone with Parkinson’s, consistency matters, and that can start with something as simple as walking, swimming, or getting outside and moving.
➡️ Training should be adapted to the person in front of you.
Posture, gait, balance, spatial awareness, health history, and where someone is in their Parkinson’s journey can all affect how they train. Lorrie uses those differences to decide where someone should start and what they can build toward.
➡️ Some types of exercise challenge the brain and body at the same time.
Boxing, dancing, pickleball, jiu-jitsu, and other activities ask you to coordinate movement, react, maintain spatial awareness, and process what your body needs to do next.
➡️ Start small and build from there.
A Parkinson’s diagnosis can make exercise feel like one more thing to figure out. Lorrie encourages people to begin with achievable goals rather than trying to change everything at once, then add more as they are ready.
Key Moments
01:55 Lorrie’s Path Into Adaptive Fitness & Movement Disorders
04:00 Continuing Her Education After Decades in Fitness
06:50 A Parkinson’s Diagnosis Doesn’t Define the Person
08:00 How Lorrie Assesses Someone Before They Begin Training
09:10 Proprioception, Spatial Awareness & Parkinson’s
12:00 Posture, Center of Gravity & Shuffling
14:35 Finding the Right Exercise & Starting at the Right Level
17:00 Why Benefitness Integrates People With Different Abilities
20:20 Getting to Know the Person You’re Training
23:45 Starting the Day With Parkinson’s
25:00 Five Categories of Exercise & What Lorrie’s Research Found
26:45 Boxing, Cognitive Processing & Mind-Body Training
28:00 Pickleball, Jiu-Jitsu & Spatial Awareness
29:05 Forced Exercise & Working Both Sides of the Body
30:35 Dancing, Marching & Coordinating Mind and Body
31:35 The Best Exercise Is the One You’ll Do
32:50 Starting Small & Building Achievable Wins
36:05 Group Exercise, Community & Social Connection
37:35 Mixing Different Types of Training
38:20 Overtraining & Knowing When to Pull Back
49:15 Adapting to What Your Body Needs That Day
49:50 Comparing Yourself to Others & Celebrating What You Can Still Do
Connect with Lorrie
Benefitness Adaptive Gym: benefitnessgym.org
LinkedIn: Lorrie Karn
Benefitness Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok & YouTube
About the Host
Eric Von Frohlich is a fitness entrepreneur, coach, and athlete living with Parkinson's who founded EVF Performance and Row House before his diagnosis in 2020. On the podcast he talks with athletes, experts, and people refusing to let a diagnosis be the end of the story.
Parkinson’s: An Athlete’s Journey
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Disclaimer
This podcast shares personal experience and general education, not medical advice. Always talk with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to medication, treatment, or exercise.
