The mood in the noon spin class at Bedford Center YMCA was upbeat as riders got ready to sit in the saddle for a workout that has changed their outlook. They were in the Pedaling for Parkinson's class.
'Are you excited to be here," instructor Virginia Frosh asked the class. "You bet," David W. Kates replied.
"Oh, it's been a life saver," Kates said of the class. "Look at my hands," Kate said, holding his perfectly still hands. "People with Parkinson's, most people shake like crazy."
Kates was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2016.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
"I probably had it longer than that, but I'm a man," Kates said. "I didn't go to the doctor."
Kates said he noticed a difference in his symptoms after he started going to Pedaling for Parkinson's more than a year ago.
"Now when I cycle, sometimes I don't even know I have Parkinson's," Kates said. "I forget I have it."
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The class is geared toward lessening symptoms.
"As we use our hands and we sing songs, and we talk, and we've got our legs going, we're working all four quadrants of the brain," Frosh said. "I know what it's like to work hard and struggle. I was in an accident once, and I was in a wheelchair. So I fought really hard to get out, so I'm trying to help them not get in."
Frosh said riders notice fewer tremors and less stiffness after class.
'It feels normal. The rest of the time, you know you got it," Kates said. "Exercise makes a lot of difference, without a doubt!"
Riders need a doctor's clearance to take the class.
The Fort Worth YMCA also offers a Pedaling for Parkinson's spin class at its Hood County location in Granbury.
