For part 1, see here.

july 2009

Neil has an article about PD and exercise (PDF) published on the Parkinson’s NSW website.

october 2009

Dear Krista

Look at this, from the Fall 2009 Newsletter of the venerable Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

http://www.pdf.org/en/fall09_exercise_parkinsons

Yes, it’s the intensity that is critical.

This is the opposite to the “take it easy and don’t tire yourself” adage that remains the conventional message put out by professionals to those living with Parkinson’s disease.

While reading Dr Petzinger’s article I had a brain flash back to a lecture theatre at Sydney University in the 1960s when a professor of Australian History remarked, “Although we say that So-and-So were the first to ‘discover’ such-and-such place, it was often the case that So-and-So were the official party dispatched by the authorities. When they’d arrive at such-and-such place, they’d often find that common people had long discovered the place and had settled there.”

november 2009

Mistress Krista

I need to row an extra 10 metres, 574 metres to 584 metres, in two minutes to recapture the lead (Men’s 55yrs – 64yrs) in the Two Minute Rowing Challenge at the gym I attend.

neil-rowing-nov-09

Neil tackling the rowing

The event is a time trial held between Monday 2 Nov and Saturday 14 Nov.

I had my first and so far only attempt last Monday 9 Nov, rowing 574 metres and displacing another competitor on 571 metres. Other men were a long way behind.

Tonight (Wednesday 11 Nov), a fellow who I see training mainly on the treadmill at a steep incline achieved 583 metres. (He’s 58 years old.) With his aerobic capacity, he’d probably stroke faster over the rear end of the race than I do. My rate seemed to start out at 38/min, fading to 34/min at the end. Resistance was at max.

Contestants may have as many attempts as they wish between 2 and 14 Nov.

I feel lured to give it another go.

Have to improve my distance by 1.57% to tie.

Another way of looking at it is that I’ll need to be about 1.9 seconds ahead of where I reached at 2 minutes on Monday.

In terms of strokes, it seems I only need to increase the number of strokes by between 1 and 2 across the entire event.

I usually have gym sessions on Mon, Wed, Fri. nights and Sat or Sun afternoon for around 55 minutes a session. Am tempted to have another go tomorrow, Thurs night, leaving an opportunity to try again on Sat.

We old fellas are pretty fierce competitors. Our distances and times stand up well against the mainstream of men in the younger categories.

There’s also an event in which contestants have to perform as many rounds of (7 pushups, 7 situps, 7 squats) in five minutes. I had a go to-night. My main difficulty is standing up. Also am very slow in rolling over from pushup to situp. (Was allowed to place my toes under a treadmill when doing situps; people with PD usually cannot sit up.) My score was poor. Thankfully no-one else in the 55yrs – 64 yrs men’s slot has contested this event so far.

One good idea in preparing for another attempt at the rower would be to increase my sleep. It’s now 12.45am, not unusual for me. Sometimes I’m back in the office around 4am.

Pics of my rowing last Monday and of competitors’ names/performances on the white board as at Monday are attached. (I asked that surnames be covered.) Others have competed; there’s only space for the leading four.

rowing-scoreboard-nov-09

Scoreboard

I have a hard row to hoe!

Best wishes

Neil

Nov 22

Over the past fortnight I’ve competed in Aquafit gym’s 2 minutes rowing challenge. Also competed in a pushup/situp/squat event in which competitors had to perform as many “rounds” as possible within 5 minutes. Each round comprised 7 pushups, 7 situps, and 7 squats.

Unfortunately I was the only competitor in the latter in the Men’s 55 years – 64 years category. My performance was relatively dreadful; my problem wasn’t in speed of pushup, situp or squat, but in standing up. Only completed 7 rounds. Movements that are simple, perhaps automatic, to most people become projects for those with Parkinson’s.

No excuses in the case of the rowing challenge. The top three competitors were a long way ahead of the rest. I was pipped into second place by a younger and fitter man. He rowed 583 metres in 2 minutes; I rowed 577 metres at my third attempt. (My first attempt was 574 metres.) In a second attempt, my backside slipped out of the seat around one minute into the row when ahead of my first attempt. By the third attempt I felt tired and lethargic. It surprised me that it was my best performance.

Competing gives purpose to my training and allows comparison of my efforts with those of other men. It’s also a relief not to be typecast by Parkinson’s. There’s no “PD” placed after my name on the whiteboard in the list of competitors. There’s no-one telling me to “rest if you feel tired.”

Times or distances achieved in gym events are screwed tighter and become new short to medium term targets.

My exercise goals range from broad statements:

  • Retain good general health, especially in relation to heart, blood pressure, and blood chemistry;
  • Develop and maintain a strong musculature to assist in retaining normal posture;
  • Continue improving:

to short-term and medium-term measurable targets.

The first two broad statements, about retaining good general health and maintaining a strong musculature, have stood since I set them in 2000.

Program sheets set out specific exercises and sets, reps, time or weight to be achieved at each gym visit. They are shaped by the short to medium term targets.

It seems that I can’t peak in aerobic and strength components at the same time. My lifting performances have fallen while preparing for the rowing challenge, so regaining that loss is my first task.

Bring on a weightlifting competition.

The vigour of my exercise regime would be regarded as lunacy by many in the Parkinson’s community but there’s a hint of change. Petzinger and others at the University of Southern California have concluded that exercise benefits for those living with Parkinson’s are positively related to intensity of that exercise. (Stumptuous could have told them that.)

http://www.pdf.org/en/fall09_exercise_parkinsons

As medication wanes, my tremor becomes conspicuous. Shoppers last week asked if I needed help. While stretching at the gym, a concerned fellow member enquired if I was O.K. At the railway station the ticket seller became alarmed I was having a fit and followed me on to the platform, offering a glass of water. An hour and a half after medication such awful signs dissipate.

I don’t feel an impact of Parkinson’s on bike or rower but it certainly affects my running. Maybe walking/running are more complex movements than we think. In weightlifting, Parkinson’s detracts significantly from my “explosive” capacity such as in snapping a weighted bar to my shoulders. That still leaves many lifts with minimal “explosive” component.

My personal experience has been that someone with Parkinson’s disease, through hard training, can far exceed the aerobic and strength performance of the average Joe or Sally. I’d reject any notion of having superior athletic talents. My current aerobic and weightlifting output is the consequence of around 1,600 gym sessions during almost all of which I’ve close to busted my guts.

Professional advice, generally applied, to people with Parkinson’s along the lines of “don’t tire yourself and don’t lift heavy weights” in my opinion is both wrong and potentially harmful if Parkinson’s is the only reason for such a remark. Naturally, those embarking on hard aerobic training should be sure they have no other health problems.

If hard training has harmed me then I’m yet to detect it. It brings temporary relief from tremor and rigidity and sleep comes more readily. Maybe I’m unique. Maybe others have had detrimental effects from vigorous exercise. I’ve not read the evidence.

At least I don’t suffer a common fourth symptom of Parkinson’s disease, toppling over. Physiotherapists at Sydney University are considering this tendency and its relation to leg strength. They will be further assessing me in the coming week, having already placed within a group unlikely to fal

Many of my peers, on diagnosis with Parkinson’s, hasten to gain a disabled car parking sticker enabling use of car parking spaces close to shops, railway stations, and the like. Some join exercise groups specifically designed for those with a disability.

Doing so may be the right approach for them. I’ll take the contrary approach. If reduced stamina threatens, I’ll increase the strain of my aerobic routine. If reduced strength threatens, I’ll put more plates on the bar.

When commencing my exercise regime in 2000 I speculated that maintaining a strong body might delay the stooped posture typical of Parkinson’s. So far so good. Neither do I experience freezing of movement experienced by many of my peers. Nor do I have a shuffling gait although its whispers are apparent on the treadmill or when walking up a steep slope.

Eventually, Parkinson’s disease will probably win. Movement will be close to impossible, I may no longer be able to eat, no longer able to speak, I may be confined to a wheel chair.

But I’m not keen to be there.

Best wishes

Neil

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