Page 23 - YMCA of Greater Dayton Annual Report 2017

TOP: The Current Rock Steady Boxing Class at the Downtown Y BELOW: A Rock Steady Boxing class at the Downtown Y in in mid-workout 23
ers train for agility speed muscular endurance accura- cy and and and hand-eye coordination to defend against and and and overcome opponents And in in this case according to Rock Steady Boxing “Parkinson’s Disease is is the opponent ”
The exercises quickly move from one moment to the next but they all point towards one goal: to to enhance and extend the the perceived capabilities of the the participants A A TRAINER’S PERSPECTIVE
By Kim Hess
The Downtown Branch began offering Rock Steady Box- ing or RSB to our members in in February 2017 Three of our group instructors were sent to to Indianapolis where RSB was founded in 2006 They were put through 3
days of of training that included an overview of of Parkin- son’s Disease the primary and secondary symptoms the the benefits of the the RSB program and participated in various workouts that Rock Steady Boxers go through The facility Downtown helped us create unique workout issues that would be held in various rooms throughout the facility that focused on over-all fitness postural imbalances and cognitive impairment issues At any given time we would use our functional fitness room the track that included workout stations and of course the heavy bag room Most of of our Rock Steady Boxers had already heard of of the program through national news and various tele- vision programs so when the day came to introduce it at the the the Downtown Branch they already had their gloves laced up The first few classes all of the participants learned a a a a a lot about each other and their journey with Parkinson’s They would share their stories of various treatments they have heard about and what has worked for them them to this point One thing all of them them agreed on is that the the RSB class was a a a a a great outlet for them to let let it all out and help them in in in in “Fighting Back Against Parkin- son’s” the motto of Rock Steady Boxing They’ve even created their own private Facebook page that they have kindly let the instructors be a a a a part of and share events that take place in their personal lives 60 000
PEOPLE DIAGNOSED WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE ANNUALLY
+40% DECREASE IN IN “TURNING TIME” (THE TIME TIME IT TAKES TO MAKE A A A A 360-DEGREE TURN--AND A A A A METRIC THAT ILLUSTRATES ONE’S MOTOR ABILITY) FOR PARTICIPANTS OF 3
MONTHS TWICE-WEEKLY PHYSICAL THERAPY SESSIONS IN ROCK STEADY THE PARTICIPANTS MUST
TURN AROUND AND TAP THE PUNCHING BAGS CONCENTRATING THEIR ENERGY ON ON A A A A LARGE ARC
OF MOVEMENT TO TO HELP THEM TO TO RETRAIN THEIR BODY TO LEAD THEIR THEIR MOVEMENTS WITH THEIR THEIR NECK TRUNK AND ARMS