Robyn Murrell is just one of four Canadians certified to offer Rock Steady Boxing
Rock Steady boxing gym for Parkinson's sufferers in Indianapolis. The Rock Steady boxing program began in Indianapolis in 2006, and expanded to dozens of cities in the U.S, as well as to Toronto and Metro Vancouver. (Havard Gould/CBC)
A fitness studio in New Westminster is offering boxing classes specifically tailored to help people with Parkinson's disease improve their motor functions and fight the progression of the illness.
Zhoosh Fitness Garage owner Robyn Murrell is just one of four Canadians who has been trained and certified to offer a program called Rock Steady Boxing, which was developed in the U.S. by a Parkinson's patient who found that the sport helped diminish his symptoms.
Murrell said the type of boxing in the program isn't that different from the regular form of the sport.
"It's just that it's non-contact. They don't hit each other, they only get to hit me," she laughed.
Murrell said her program involves regular exercises such as stretching and jumping rope, and boxing using heavy bags, speed bags, double-ended bags and more.
An 'intense exercise'
"Most people, by the time they're diagnosed with Parkinson's, they've already lost 70 to 80 per cent of their dopamine levels, and so we want to get those dopamine levels back up, and boxing is quite a forced intense exercise program and it really helps with that," she said.
"It works on rhythm … hand-eye-coordination. As people progress with their Parkinson's, their gait tends to get quite small, so we work on big, exaggerated movements. We do core work, we do footwork, we do absolutely everything, and we throw in some games too."
While there is no cure for Parkinson's disease, studies have shown that exercise can help with symptoms.
Stephanie Combs-Miller, a researcher at the University of Indianapolis' Krannert School of Physical Therapy, studied the Rock Steady program and saw that participants had better endurance, better balance and perceived a higher quality of life.
The Rock Steady boxing program began in Indianapolis in 2006 and has since expanded to dozens of cities in the U.S., as well as to Toronto and now Metro Vancouver.
Murrell said a high level of fitness isn't needed to participate in the program, and anyone with Parkinson's can join.
There are also classes for people with limited mobility, such as those in wheelchairs. "They might be in a wheelchair. We can put them up to a heavy bag and they can hit the bag,. It's not a problem," Murrell said.
Murrell, who recently went to Indianapolis to train, said she saw firsthand what the program meant to people with Parkinson's.
"People would walk in, they just looked like normal, everyday people and then they'd put their gloves on and their faces just lit up.
"They were doing stuff that they never thought they'd be able to do."
With files from CBC's The Early Edition
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/new-west-woman-helps-parkinson-s-patients-fight-back-through-boxing-1.3642320
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