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Doug Merriam used to rely on his hands to sweetly pick out notes on his acoustic guitar.
Today, his hands are clenched and wrapped inside a boxing glove, used to punch a bag, sometimes with a boxer’s ferocity.
“I try to think that every punch slows down the progress of Parkinson’s,” Merriam says during a session at Boxing 4 Health. “I get angry. I get mad that I have this disease and I tend to punch harder.”
This from a gentle soul of 72, now retired from a career in video production, who had never thrown a punch in his life before signing up for these boxing sessions in Ottawa’s Carlington neighbourhood.
To Merriam, music comes more naturally than pugilism. As a boy, he grew up listening to his mother play old-timey tunes from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.
“My mother played piano and I learned to play the ukulele standing beside her,” he says.
As an adult, he formed a trio called the Lazy River Swing Band, performing around town, especially at retirement residences.
A few years ago, Merriam noticed he couldn’t keep time with his right hand, his strumming/picking hand. He’d previously suffered a stroke and assumed his right arm had gone limp as a residual symptom. All he knew for certain was that his guitar playing had deteriorated.
“That just devastated me,” he says.
Owner Christine Seaby helps out Doug Merriam, 72, during a workout at Boxing 4 Health.
Frustrated, he went to his family doctor and then a neurologist who told him in the fall of 2015 that he had Parkinson’s disease. With Parkinson’s medication, his guitar playing improved slightly, but not to where it had been.
While at an information seminar on Parkinson’s, Merriam struck up a conversation with a patient of about 50, who spoke of the benefits of participating in a boxing workout specifically for Parkinson’s patients. A couple of days later, Merriam attended his first session. He’s now a three-times-a-week regular and swears by it.
“They have helped me dramatically, profoundly,” Merriam says.
Mentally and physically.
“On the mental side, people with Parkinson’s withdraw from society. It has changed all that. I am much more social. I can go places now with crowds where I couldn’t before.
“I’m more aware and I have a brighter outlook.
“Exercise is not only good physically for you, it’s good for the brain.”
Owner Christine Seaby helps out Doug Merriam, 72, during a workout at Boxing 4 Health.
But boxing for Parkinson’s? The very notion seems counter-intuitive. The greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, suffered from Parkinson’s symptoms, which may have been linked to his time in the ring.
At Boxing 4 Health, there is no sparring, participants train like boxers but only strike heavy and light bags.
A few years ago, Christine Seaby started training Parkinson’s patients — loosely based on a U.S. program — first using her own garage and driveway. She then made use of a Crossfit gym before setting up at her current location.
Seaby used to work in neuro physiotherapy as a massage therapist, and so had a background helping patients with neurological issues. Her gym has 60-plus Parkinson’s patients plus a session for seniors, many of them spouses of the Parkinson’s group. Because Parkinson’s robs people of their dopamine — your brain’s power-driver — it’s a challenge to get PD patients moving. Once at the gym, though, they are all in.
“Most of them don’t have the motivation to get here even,” Seaby says. “But because they have so much fun, it brings them back.
“Initially, the majority of them have been dragged here by their spouse. They try it and it sells them.”
In one-hour workouts, Seaby and head coach Jessica Lafond focus on “big” movement to combat the Parkinson’s push to tighten up and get small. As they stretch, kick, jump, punch and lunge, participants are encouraged to yell out mathematical tables, exercising minds, bodies and vocal chords. Speed is emphasized because Parkinson’s has a drag effect and causes muscle tremors.
Course obstacles help retrain the brain.
Doug Merriam, 72, participates in a class at Boxing 4 Health. Merriam has Parkinson’s disease and finds the workouts have a profound positive effect on his health.
The University of Ottawa has undertaken multiple research studies on the benefits of this program for Parkinson’s patients. Due to be released this year, one of the studies will illustrate dramatic improvement in balance tests.
Lafond lies awake at night coming up with new exercise stations for the circuit.
“There’s nothing worse than doing the same workout all the time,” she says.
Merriam has been going to sessions for a year-and-a-half and has never experienced the same drills. Clients get boxing names, and Merriam is “The Marauder.” Another is “Hurricane.”
Of course, like Joe Frazier against Ali, Parkinson’s is a relentless opponent. While Merriam has reduced his symptoms with the sessions, he detects a subtle advancement in his condition, inevitable as time progresses.
He won’t go down without a fight, punching away his frustration alongside his fellow patients.
“We have developed an amazing community of people,” Merriam says, noting social and fundraising get-togethers.
He still strums the guitar, jamming with friends “who don’t mind putting up with my challenged play.”
In the gym, as a musical playlist accompanies footwork and punches, Merriam sometimes breaks out in song.
Wayne Scanlan writes a regular column on fitness and wellness.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
Today, his hands are clenched and wrapped inside a boxing glove, used to punch a bag, sometimes with a boxer’s ferocity.
“I try to think that every punch slows down the progress of Parkinson’s,” Merriam says during a session at Boxing 4 Health. “I get angry. I get mad that I have this disease and I tend to punch harder.”
This from a gentle soul of 72, now retired from a career in video production, who had never thrown a punch in his life before signing up for these boxing sessions in Ottawa’s Carlington neighbourhood.
To Merriam, music comes more naturally than pugilism. As a boy, he grew up listening to his mother play old-timey tunes from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.
“My mother played piano and I learned to play the ukulele standing beside her,” he says.
As an adult, he formed a trio called the Lazy River Swing Band, performing around town, especially at retirement residences.
A few years ago, Merriam noticed he couldn’t keep time with his right hand, his strumming/picking hand. He’d previously suffered a stroke and assumed his right arm had gone limp as a residual symptom. All he knew for certain was that his guitar playing had deteriorated.
“That just devastated me,” he says.
Owner Christine Seaby helps out Doug Merriam, 72, during a workout at Boxing 4 Health.
Frustrated, he went to his family doctor and then a neurologist who told him in the fall of 2015 that he had Parkinson’s disease. With Parkinson’s medication, his guitar playing improved slightly, but not to where it had been.
While at an information seminar on Parkinson’s, Merriam struck up a conversation with a patient of about 50, who spoke of the benefits of participating in a boxing workout specifically for Parkinson’s patients. A couple of days later, Merriam attended his first session. He’s now a three-times-a-week regular and swears by it.
“They have helped me dramatically, profoundly,” Merriam says.
Mentally and physically.
“On the mental side, people with Parkinson’s withdraw from society. It has changed all that. I am much more social. I can go places now with crowds where I couldn’t before.
“I’m more aware and I have a brighter outlook.
“Exercise is not only good physically for you, it’s good for the brain.”
Owner Christine Seaby helps out Doug Merriam, 72, during a workout at Boxing 4 Health.
But boxing for Parkinson’s? The very notion seems counter-intuitive. The greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, suffered from Parkinson’s symptoms, which may have been linked to his time in the ring.
At Boxing 4 Health, there is no sparring, participants train like boxers but only strike heavy and light bags.
A few years ago, Christine Seaby started training Parkinson’s patients — loosely based on a U.S. program — first using her own garage and driveway. She then made use of a Crossfit gym before setting up at her current location.
Seaby used to work in neuro physiotherapy as a massage therapist, and so had a background helping patients with neurological issues. Her gym has 60-plus Parkinson’s patients plus a session for seniors, many of them spouses of the Parkinson’s group. Because Parkinson’s robs people of their dopamine — your brain’s power-driver — it’s a challenge to get PD patients moving. Once at the gym, though, they are all in.
“Most of them don’t have the motivation to get here even,” Seaby says. “But because they have so much fun, it brings them back.
“Initially, the majority of them have been dragged here by their spouse. They try it and it sells them.”
In one-hour workouts, Seaby and head coach Jessica Lafond focus on “big” movement to combat the Parkinson’s push to tighten up and get small. As they stretch, kick, jump, punch and lunge, participants are encouraged to yell out mathematical tables, exercising minds, bodies and vocal chords. Speed is emphasized because Parkinson’s has a drag effect and causes muscle tremors.
Course obstacles help retrain the brain.
Doug Merriam, 72, participates in a class at Boxing 4 Health. Merriam has Parkinson’s disease and finds the workouts have a profound positive effect on his health.
The University of Ottawa has undertaken multiple research studies on the benefits of this program for Parkinson’s patients. Due to be released this year, one of the studies will illustrate dramatic improvement in balance tests.
Lafond lies awake at night coming up with new exercise stations for the circuit.
“There’s nothing worse than doing the same workout all the time,” she says.
Merriam has been going to sessions for a year-and-a-half and has never experienced the same drills. Clients get boxing names, and Merriam is “The Marauder.” Another is “Hurricane.”
Of course, like Joe Frazier against Ali, Parkinson’s is a relentless opponent. While Merriam has reduced his symptoms with the sessions, he detects a subtle advancement in his condition, inevitable as time progresses.
He won’t go down without a fight, punching away his frustration alongside his fellow patients.
“We have developed an amazing community of people,” Merriam says, noting social and fundraising get-togethers.
He still strums the guitar, jamming with friends “who don’t mind putting up with my challenged play.”
In the gym, as a musical playlist accompanies footwork and punches, Merriam sometimes breaks out in song.
Wayne Scanlan writes a regular column on fitness and wellness.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
