Frequent Parking Suns viewer and comment writer Bev emailed me that she took a Rock Steady boxing class for people with Parkinson’s and felt great afterwards. She wrote:
I went to a boxing class on Wednesday. “Only” 30 min, but what a workout!
She also attached this ultra-inspiring video:
The video is fantastic. Some quotes:
“It has slowed down the progression, and to tell the truth in the four years I’ve been doing it, I have gotten better.”
And…
“I’m [still] a little shaky, but that tremor is gone. And actually, the last time I saw the doctor he cut back on my medication. He said, ‘Your exercising is really making a difference.'”
And…
There is some evidence that this exercise program is effective. A handful of boxers were tracked over two years, their abilities compared to other people with Parkinson’s who did other types of training. The boxers did well. Their balance was better. They could walk faster. They had more endurance. And they reported their overall quality of life was higher.
And…
“I don’t see myself in a wheelchair in ten years.”
Thank you, Bev!
I included “Fountain of Youth” in the title for two reasons:
- Linda, the woman with Parkinson’s disease whom you see at the start of the video, looks about 55 years old but is actually 72.
- Again and again in the video you hear and see evidence that the Parkies are going backwards in time. That is, their symptoms are dissipating (“dissipating” as in “vanishing”).
Now let’s watch the video a second time!
