In training
Sports Center of Morehead City representatives Rene O’Connor, left, and Grant Kelley pose in front of the Rock Steady Boxing mural at the training headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., on Friday. (Zack Nally photo)
MOREHEAD CITY — A new fight against Parkinson’s disease is coming to Carteret County in the form of speed bags, left hooks and uppercuts.
The Sports Center of Morehead City is starting an affiliate Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) program in October, with aims to help people fight against the physical effects from the disease and the risk factors it poses.
The health club sent two trainers – Grant Kelley and Rene O’Connor – to Indianapolis, Ind., this weekend for certified instruction on how to lead a class of their own. Kelley is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, while O’Connor is the gym’s group fitness coordinator.
The pair spent the better part of Thursday and Friday attending 10- to 12-hour seminars and classes from licensed trainers.
“We learned everything from what Parkinson’s disease is to Rock Steady Boxing’s method and its impact with the disease,” Kelley said.
Kelley and O’Connor also got to see hands-on work with Parkinson’s disease patients while hearing some of their stories of recovery.
“It was such an amazing experience to see how well they responded to the program and to see where they were before they started it,” O’Connor said. “I talked to one gentleman who I had no idea had Parkinson’s. He told me he could barely talk, couldn’t bend over, could barely move before the program, and I couldn’t imagine the person he was describing was the same person standing in front of me. It’s amazing that something so simple would have such a huge impact.”
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative movement disorder which can cause deterioration of motor skills, balance, speech and sensory function. Studies from the 1980s and 1990s supported the notion that rigorous exercise, emphasizing gross motor movement, balance, core strength and rhythm, could favorably impact range of motion, flexibility, posture, gait and activities of daily living. And more recent studies, most notably at the Cleveland Clinic, focus on the concept of intense “forced” exercise and have begun to suggest that certain kinds of exercise may be neuro-protective, slowing disease progression.
“When evidence began to emerge that our program had a very positive impact on the ‘boxers,’ our mission became clear – to share our knowledge and experience with all people with Parkinson’s,” said Rock Steady Boxing Inc. Executive Director Joyce Johnson on the organization’s website. “That is why we decided to make our training available worldwide –to train as many as we can, so together we can improve the care of people with Parkinson’s everywhere.”
The Rock Steady Boxing organization was founded in 2006 by an Indiana attorney, Scott C. Newman, who had contracted early onset Parkinson’s. According to RSB’s website, Newman began intense one-on-one boxing training just a few years after he was diagnosed at age 40. He discovered improvement in his physical health, agility, daily functioning and quality of life through the intense and high-energy, non-contact boxing workouts.
“We want to empower people to fight this disease long beyond the diagnosis,” Kelley said. “There are people who were in wheelchairs when they started the program, and after a year to a year and a half, they’re walking completely unaided again. It’s incredible.”
O’Connor concurred wholeheartedly and was anxious to see how the program will be received at the Sports Center.
“I was amazed at how this program gives those with Parkinson’s disease their life back,” she said. “They’re happy, and they want to be at the classes. They don’t box the whole time either. There’s a lot of emphasis placed on socialization, having your support group and your friends around you. I’m really curious what kind of response we’re going to get in our community. It’s exciting.”
Today, there are over 400 RSB affiliates in 47 states and international affiliates in Italy and Canada, initiated by certified RSB coaches.
“Not everyone can come to Indiana for treatment, so they created a project seminar to train coaches who wanted to implement their own programs in their local area,” Kelley said. “In 2015, one of the training videos went viral and got a lot of media attention. It just grew from there.”
As for the program itself, Rock Steady Boxing is based on exercises largely adapted from boxing drills. The non-contact, boxing-style fitness program – which can include ring and floor work, extensive stretching, focus mitts, heavy bags, speed bags, double-ended bags, jump ropes, core work, calisthenics and circuit weight training – aims to improve quality of life and sense of efficiency and self-worth.
“The workout is a giant circuit,” O’Connor said. “I’ve shown some of the videos to our (Sports Center) members, and a lot of them said, ‘Wow, even I can’t do that.’ The people that participate in these programs, men and women sometimes in their 60s and 70s, they’re incredibly strong.”
Interest in a county-based program was initiated by the Morehead City Parkinson’s Disease Support Group.
“They reached out to us with a lot of interest and passion for the program,” Kelley said. “One of the group members approached me about this a year ago, we did some research, and it has kind of taken off from there.”
The group partnered with the Sports Center in applying to the Parkinson’s Foundation for a 2017 Community Grant. The funding, sourced from the Parkinson’s Foundation’s Moving Day North Carolina, made it possible for the Sports Center to purchase the necessary equipment for the program.
Classes will be all-inclusive to start, with hopes that expansion will allow for a tiered curriculum, with sessions based on the level of Parkinson’s disease progression per individuals. With the implementation of the program, Morehead City joins Wilmington as the only North Carolina location east of Raleigh to provide a Rock Steady Boxing program.
The Sports Center is currently renovating a new first-floor facility for the class, which will be available sometime in October. The room will also double as the site for the new Sports Center Performance Zone, a program that will be available in September, led by Kelley. The room will be the home site for both programs, complete with turf and rubber flooring, equipment for both classes and plenty of room for prospective participants.
“I’m already training 20 to 30 athletes in an upstairs room,” Kelley said, “but this will allow a full program for our middle school and high school athletes, with multiple classes for both groups three times a week.”
For more information on either of the new programs, contact Sports Center Operations Manager Paul Gillikin at 252-726-7070 or send an email to paul@sportscentermorehead.com.
http://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/sports/article_0a0adba8-7fa4-11e7-be27-d362dbf18463.html
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