Fitness sessions for people with Parkinsons

We speak to Lisa Houston from South Downs Amateur Boxing Club about their sessions for people with Parkinsons

Transcript

00:00My name is Lisa Houston and we have just opened up South Downs Amateur Boxing Club

00:04at the Park Centre in Burgess Hill. We will be running sessions for teen girls only,

00:11senior women only, juniors, seniors and my absolute passion is having a Parkinson's team

00:17here at the Park Centre. We're right in the hub of the community and so on the open day

00:22we had lots of people come in and talk to us about setting up the Parkinson's team.

00:27We are governed by the National Governing Body England Boxing who are in partnership

00:31with Parkinson's UK and we're hoping to have our Parkinson's team set up imminently

00:37within like the next six weeks so that we can start speaking with local GPs so they

00:42can signpost any people with Parkinson's to our sessions.

00:46Oh it's brilliant, I can walk here easily. I haven't got to worry about parking, travelling

00:51or anything and it puts your steps up when I've got to walk in. Yeah, no, it means a lot.

00:58Yeah, absolutely. But it's, otherwise you have to go, everything's inhaled safe. I mean

01:06the Parkinson's group are very good and they do a lot but if you don't want to travel there's

01:12nothing but this will be ideal. You meet new people, people who understand because they've

01:17got Parkinson's as well and then it's a form of exercise and it helps your stability and

01:26your balance so I can't wait to start.

01:29So I have experience working with people with Parkinson's. Coaching them to box is completely

01:35driven by the individual and what they want to get out of the session. There's obviously

01:39breaks where needed, we have seating so that people can sit out if they need to. The benefits

01:44of boxing for someone with Parkinson's are only just being discovered now but there's

01:49huge amounts of data to show that the hand and eye coordination, getting the heart rate

01:53up is actually helping avoid slips, trips and falls. I've spoken to a number of participants

02:01that I've coached previously that have been able to either reduce their medication or that

02:06immediately after the session their adrenaline's still pumping so their tremors might be a little

02:10bit more but then maybe an hour later once they've had something to eat and they've got

02:14home their tremors are actually lower for at least 24 hours so they get to actually feel

02:19some kind of relief from doing some exercise. But also it's the team, it's them coming down

02:27and meeting other people that may live around the corner from them that have Parkinson's that

02:31they don't know. All of a sudden they're all here, understanding what their condition means

02:36for them and being able to set up their own community space to support each other and also

02:41being able to go out and do other activities going out for walks and so on. It's not just the boxing,

02:46it's the fact that you create a community hub for them to go off and make new friends and

02:52integrate in society as it should be. So if you were somebody that's in Birdless Hill or in the

02:57surrounding area that would like to come and start boxing with us at South Downs amateur boxing club,

03:03you can either connect with us on social media or you can get in contact with the centre which is

03:07Park Centre or speak to Parkinson's UK because we'll be set up on their club finder in due course.