When you think of boxing, you probably don’t think of it helping slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. But a new study has shown that boxing may be of benefit to those with Parkinson’s Disease.

New research by Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, has found that boxing solo might be a way for people with early-stage Parkinson’s to reduce the progression and severity of the disease and improve their quality of life.

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a disorder of the nervous system, causing unintended and uncontrollable movements such as tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Because it’s progressive, symptoms begin gradually and worsen over time. Although most people develop PD after age 60, about 5% to 10% show early signs of the disease before age 50.

The researchers partnered with boxer Rai Fazio, creator of the Fightmaster boxing unit, a commercially available training device comprising 11 padded punching targets mounted on a stand. Ten people with early-stage PD were recruited to the study and taught how to use the Fightmaster before doing three one-hour boxing sessions each week for 15 weeks. The mean age of participants was 60.

The sessions were divided into three phases: ‘development’, which focused on the fundamentals of boxing technique; ‘cardio’, designed to improve cardiovascular fitness with short bursts of exercise between rest periods; and ‘brain’, which tested cognitive function by having participants perform punching sequences they’d not learned before and memorize a series of between five and nine different punches.

“So, what we did was look really robustly at how feasible a boxing program is for people with PD, which hadn’t been done in the past,” said Travis Cruickshank, co-author of the study. “We used heart rate monitors throughout the intervention so we could see the cardiovascular load on our participants, we used scales that measured their perceived levels of exertion from both a physical and cognitive standpoint.”

The researchers found that, at the end of the 15-week program, nine of the 10 participants had an improved score on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), a rating tool used to gauge the severity and progression of PD. The UPDRS scores four separate areas: intellectual function, mood and behavior; activities of daily living; motor function; and motor complications such as involuntary, uncontrolled movement (dyskinesia).

They also found that the participants showed improved quality of life; fatigue was reduced, and sleep improved. Despite the high-energy exercise, participants reported no increase in muscle soreness or major injuries. Based on the heart rate data they collected, the researchers concluded that the boxing program was safe and well-tolerated, and say that boxing is an easy way to gain multiple benefits from one activity.

“In the past, I might have been working with people with Parkinson’s and we’d have exercises in a gym, then a separate computerized cognitive training program, and another event for the social aspect,” Cruickshank said. “With boxing, we can combine all of those and deliver it really quickly, which makes it all the more enjoyable and people stick with it.”

The researchers say that the next step is to study the therapeutic effects of boxing on people with varying stages of PD before expanding their research to include other neurological conditions such as Huntington’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.

“Once we’ve established the therapeutic effectiveness with larger trials – then it will be ready to be implemented in the community,” said Cruickshank.

The study was published in the journal PM&R.

Source: Edith Cowan University