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The sound of gloved fists crashing against punching bags echoed through Polk Street Boxing Gym as eager students wrapped their hands in gauze and tape. These individuals weren\u2019t readying for an ordinary 90-minute fitness class however, they were preparing to fight back against Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
Rock Steady Boxing San Francisco (RSB) has reinvented the idea of physical therapy with a non-contact boxing fitness program developed for people with Parkinson\u2019s disease. The first-of-its-kind program, originally founded in 2006 by a former Marion County Prosecutor living with Parkinson\u2019s in Indianapolis, opened last year in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Parkinson\u2019s is a disease of the central nervous system that typically affects movement; symptoms include: tremors, slowness of movement, stiffness, impaired balance and coordination. More than one million people in the United States live with Parkinson\u2019s according to the Parkinson\u2019s Disease Foundation.<\/p>\n
Veronica Garcia-Hayes, 44, is a fighter at RSB who was diagnosed in 2009 while she was four months pregnant with her first daughter.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve really been able to rest better at night, complete sleep, fewer tremors, better balance, definitely much more strength,\u201d Hayes said, after starting classes at RSB last year. \u201cThe camaraderie that comes along from being around other people in the same condition really helps the mind set.\u201d<\/p>\n
In attempt to combat her disease, Hayes tried cycling, yoga and weight training as other forms of physical therapy, but believes RSB has helped her condition the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with the trainers at RSB is great because they evolve as I evolve in my ability to do things,\u201d she said. \u201cThey adjust their program to push me further.\u201d<\/p>\n
For 45-year-old RSB Coach Freddy Silva, who works as a cornerman for women\u2019s world boxing champion Melissa McMorrow, being part of the program has enabled him to give back to the community and stay involved in what he says is, \u201cthe best sport in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silva, who is also a drug and alcohol counselor, believes that the sport goes hand in hand with other parts of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to give up, it\u2019s easy to put the gloves down and walk out of the gym and never come back,\u201d Silva said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to stay; it\u2019s hard to learn combinations; it\u2019s hard to do these drills. Whether you have Parkinson\u2019s, whether you are in really good shape, it\u2019s difficult because nothing that\u2019s worthwhile is easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim Woolley, an RSB Coach began teaching at Polk Street Boxing Gym more than five years ago. Although she got into boxing much later in life, Woolley received her first speed bag and gloves at the age of five.<\/p>\n
RSB is 90 to 95 percent regular boxing training that anyone at a boxing class would do, and 5 to 10 percent exercises specific to people with Parkinson\u2019s, \u201cfocusing on posture, balance, core stability and also the voice activation,\u201d Woolley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we started a year ago, I\u2019ve seen improvements in individuals with their overall strength, with their posture, with their ability to do everyday tasks\u2014things like folding the laundry, things that they haven\u2019t been able to do before,\u201d Woolley said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a natural support system that\u2019s built in with these fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marta San Luciano Palenzuela, a Parkinson\u2019s Neurologist at UCSF Medical Center, believes continuous exercise is important for treating the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudies on exercise and physical therapy are difficult to perform, but in the past five years, there have been a lot of studies published on different modalities of exercise and physical therapy on Parkinson\u2019s, and the majority have been very positive,\u201d Palenzuela said.<\/p>\n
Palenzuela added that patients often differ from each other and that most exercise programs have to be tailored to fit individual needs. However, she believes that boxing tackles a combination of exercises that she encourages her patients to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that I was impressed with from the Rock Steady program was that their 90-minute class not only has the calisthenics\u2014warming up and exercises that particularly focus on balance\u2014but also has a part in which people exercise their voices,\u201d Palenzuela said.
\nSpeech training is not typically part of a fitness program, but is important for those with Parkinson\u2019s she added, explaining that patients tend to have soft, monotone voices and usually have a hard time communicating their thoughts.<\/p>\n
Hayes hasn\u2019t been the only one noticing a change in her physique. \u201cPeople that haven\u2019t seen me in several months or seen me in up to a year are completely amazed by my ability to move better,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s in combination with medication, but the medication that I take allows me to work out and the workout actually allows me to take less medication, so the two combined actually really work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sound of gloved fists crashing against punching bags echoed through Polk Street Boxing Gym as eager students wrapped their hands in gauze and tape. These individuals weren\u2019t readying for an ordinary 90-minute fitness class however, they were preparing to fight back against Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":26616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[3280,5231,5229,5227,5143,5145],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-26614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-en","tag-boxing","tag-parkinsons","tag-parkinsons-disease","tag-polk-street-gym","tag-rock-steady-boxing-san-francisco","tag-rsb","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n