parkinson's disease and exercise

Dr. White's Education and Experience

This former collegiate athlete (basketball, volleyball, water polo and swimming) and high school volleyball coach brings almost 40 years of extensive, successful teaching experience in physical and wellness education, group fitness classes and personal training. She continues to educate, inspire and challenge every participant—from the new beginner in class to the  the seasoned, veteran client.

After spending many years teaching in higher education, Dr. White decided to pursue a lifelong dream of owning her own gym. She and her husband, Kevin, purchased Santa Paula Fitness in the summer of 2011 and is where Neurofitness was founded, ultimately, in 2018. It is here where she not only owned her gym business, but was also responsible for coordinating all group fitness activities—including teaching, training, hiring and scheduling.

She is a Master Trainer in a number of class formats (including Turbokickboxing, Neuroboxing, Spinning, Weight Training, P90X, T25, Yoga, Pilates, PiYo, Step, Aqua Exercise—Shallow & Deep,  and Elementary Physical Education). She also spent 5 years as Program Director of Volleyball for Santa Paula High School, overseeing 3 girls’ teams for varsity, junior varsity and frosh/soph, in addition to coaching 2 years at Fillmore Middle School.

Currently, Dr. White  focuses solely on Neurofitness classes, personal training, (and animal rescue). She is excited to share her experience and expertise with you and welcome you to the fitness community you’ve been looking for. Exercise has proven to be vital and effective for those with Parkinson’s. These cutting-edge, fun classes can augment the benefits of medications and SLOW the progression of Parkinson's. They have also demonstrated many beneficial results at improving motor skills and other symptoms that may accompany neurological conditions.

At Cal Poly SLO, Dr. White received her bachelor's degree in kinesiology. She then earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in the same discipline at the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. White and her husband enjoy spending time with all their animals (pigs, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, turtles, and guinea pigs)!

Vanessa attributes her success and her positive, energetic teaching style to her father, Dr. Jerry Hornbuckle (a rocket scientist in his previous "life"), who currently resides in Prescott Valley, AZ. His lifelong guidance and direction in her life was instrumental in keeping her focused on reaching her ever-changing, yet highly important goals in life.