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Home » Exercise Programs » Counter-Punching Parkinson’s: Boxing Can Boost Physical And Emotional Health – Hartford Courant

Larry Orkins, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 10 years ago when he was 48, is unleashing a flurry of punches. He relentlessly backs up his sparring partner, who is catching the blows with padded mitts. When the minute-long mayhem is over, both are breathing heavily. The other Parkinson's pugilists in the class salute his effort by clapping their boxing gloves.

At first blush, boxing and Parkinson's seem like an odd pairing. One is about quickness and strength; the other is a degenerative movement disorder. But increasingly boxing is a big component in the exercise regimens that doctors recommend to treat patients' symptoms, which include halting gait, poor balance and decreased coordination.

Recent studies have documented the role of exercise in fighting Parkinson's, but Larry Orkins alone is proof positive. He began boxing and working out two years ago; he has lost 50 pounds and plans to lose 20 more. His balance and strength have improved so much that he now jogs regularly with the goal of competing in a 5K race this year. His outlook on life has improved as well: "You get out of the house doing this and get to know people. They become good friends. And when I come here I don't feel like people are staring at me while I exercise."

Lauren Schneiderman | Hartford Magazine

Sheila Tobin, 67, is another pugilist. She boxes twice a week and also trains at home, at the gym, and takes yoga and Tai Chi classes. Diagnosed in 2012, she started exercising three years ago.

"Last year I broke my arm and couldn't work out for a while, and I really felt like I had Parkinson's," she said. "When I started exercising again, I felt more normal, like my old self."

Sheila and Larry are among six participants in a "Beat Parkinson's Today" class led by Michelle Hespeler, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago at age 40. A physical education teacher at Glastonbury High School, Hespeler developed the exercise program with the help of her personal trainer and now offers classes to more than 170 clients at a dozen locations throughout the state. In addition to boxing drills, her charges perform movement and strength calisthenics. "Let's do 10 more, that was too easy," she is wont to say.

Lauren Schneiderman | Hartford Magazine

Like virtually everyone who gets the disease, Hespeler was devastated initially: "The first two months were very traumatic. I thought, oh my God, I am 40 years old and I have this old person's disease, what am I going to do?"

It is an understandable reaction. While Parkinson's progression is slow, it is relentless and there is no cure. Medications can mitigate the symptoms but become less effective over time. Despite extensive research, the cause is unknown but is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Parkinson's is, indeed, more common among older people. About one in 100 people 65 and older have the disease, according to Dr. J. Antonelle de Marcaida of Hartford Healthcare's Chase Movement Disorders Center in Vernon. As the American population ages, Parkinson's is becoming more prevalent there are at least 1 million patients nationwide and some 60,000 new cases diagnosed every year.

Doctors, therapists and hospitals are responding to this demographic reality. The Chase Center, one of the places where Hespeler holds her classes, is just two years old, and the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain opened in 2013. Last year, Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital in Hartford introduced an intensive four-week program whose goal is to improve the speech and movement of Parkinson's patients. Rock Steady Boxing offers programs nationwide, including at several locations in Connecticut.

Lauren Schneiderman | Hartford Magazine

Exercise is my medicine, says Michelle Hespeler, who teaches classes at the Chase Movement Disorders Center.

Exercise is my medicine, says Michelle Hespeler, who teaches classes at the Chase Movement Disorders Center. (Lauren Schneiderman | Hartford Magazine)

After recovering from the shock of her diagnosis, Michelle Hespeler decided on a course of action: she would fight back with all her might. She vowed to stay strong by working out every day for an hour. It worked out so well that she began to share her regimen with friends and fellow patients in her Parkinson's support group. Then, three years ago, she launched her classes (www.beatpdtoday.com).

"The results I see are amazing, both emotionally and physically," she said. "People are feeling better very quickly, within a week or two. Emotionally they feel better because they are up and out and doing things. A lot of time people just sit there and take this disease and kind of just accept it, especially if they are older."

De Marcaida, who is Hespeler's doctor, said that exercise is doubly important for her patients: "Researchers are finding that exercise actually activates the brain cells that are affected by Parkinson's and makes them healthier. Exercise is not only important for the physical benefits it affords, but also at the level of the neurons themselves."

So far Hespeler is fighting Parkinson's to a draw. Her numbers on motor skills tests have barely budged in 10 years, and, while she takes a low-level medication, she is not yet on Levodopa, the gold standard drug that most patients begin taking at or soon after diagnosis. Watching her work out with her class, exhorting them on to further pain and gain, one would not assume that she is anything but remarkably fit.

"I am a very positive thinker, I am very proactive," she said. "I visualize and meditate, which I think is a really great thing. It's part of my classes. Having the right frame of mind and working at it will keep you healthy."

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Counter-Punching Parkinson's: Boxing Can Boost Physical And Emotional Health - Hartford Courant

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Home » Exercise Programs » Counter-Punching Parkinson’s: Boxing Can Boost Physical And Emotional Health – Hartford Courant