Why I hate cardio and love lifting weights

I freaking hate cardio.  It's not really the feeling after that I dislike, but mostly the process.  Now, there's some amount of cardio that I love, and it's boxing and Muay Thai, but most of your "conventional" cardio like running or cycling or swimming I find to be extremely boring.

Weights, on the other hand, don't lie to you.  Now I'm not talking about hitting up some biceps curls or some machines, I'm talking real weights like squats, deadlifts, overhead pressing, and bench press.  The weights are either "I can do" or "I can't do," when you make the attempt.

Cardio, in the conventional sense, is drawn out and honestly not very exciting.  I used to love running and honestly I have some great memories running with some very awesome people.  Sadly, I just don't enjoy that action anymore.  Swimming is something that I can do to survive, but not for fitness.  Honestly, I just like the ability to not drown.  Cycling hurts my butt, so enough said.

When you lift, it's short and sweet.  Yeah, it may suck something awful at the time, like sets of 10 squats, but nevertheless you can hit it and quit it.  In the end, you keep adding weight to the bar and see what you can do.  Honestly, being able to lift over 400lbs is much more satisfying than bein
g able to run a mile at all.

The best application of both cardio and strength is in combat.  Muay Thai and Boxing both highlight strength and cardio by being able to strike hard and often.  This is a thing that anyone at any age can go ahead and do and in addition to your normal fitness goals with it, it helps to reduce stress.

Obviously, I'm an advocate for the martial arts and combative
.  I believe that in addition to improving your fitness that it helps to improve your life in general.  Combine this with weights and I think you've hit a gold mine.  

Put the "Dope" in Dopamine. Knock out Parkinson's Disease!

There's a lot of research related to Parkinson's Disease.  The outward signs of this disease begin as a tremor in one or more parts of the body and can extend into another section or part of the body.  While many who look into exercise and fitness look at the musculature and composition, we must remember that the nervous system and the diseases that may affect it are just as important to work on.

One thing about lifting weights is that there is a nervous system component to it.  Most people only focus primarily on the muscle but we forget that the body functions as a system, a sum of its' parts.  Looking at the body in its entirety is a much more effective way than looking at it in parts.  Where the nervous system comes into play is really everywhere.

Without your nervous system, you can't do pretty much everything.  From talking to smelling to picking up heavy objects, your nervous system is involved with everything.  Parkinson's disease is essentially a disruption of your nervous system, primarily dopamine which is a neurotransmitter. With this disrupted, things that you could or were able to do start to fail.
neurotransmitter takes the signal and travels across the nerve's junction(s).

Parkinson's disease is incurable, once you have it you have it.  The goal, especially the sooner you can find out, is to slow the effects of the disease.  Inevitably it will win.  Using boxing, ironically the sport of which Muhammed Ali performed (who recently passed from Parkinson's Disease) we, as therapists and exercise professionals, are helping to turn the tide on the disease.

About 200,000 new diagnoses of Parkinson's Disease are diagnosed each year.  Therefore there are millions of people living with this really slow, brutal disease.  Now an unconventional method of exercise, boxing, is being used to help fight the disease.  Boxing empowers a person.  It allows for an individual to feel strong and in control, even when often they don't have it.  Over time, we can see an increase in functional ability and confidence, which can go hand in hand.

My classes have several components to it.  We have more or less the "mindless" conditioning components, predominantly using heavy bags where an individual either focuses on strength or endurance.  We have the more focused, heavier mental output, of the double-ended bag and speed bags.  And finally, we have the interactive components with include punch mitts, agility ladders, cones, and strength work.

I bring this up because it is something that has now made me who I am.  I love having the opportunity to work with every one of these individuals and hopefully change their lives.  For further information, you can check it out yourself here. 

The thrill of the fight!

As I pointed out in my previous post with a boxing class for people living with strokes, I have been running a boxing class for people living with Parkinson's Disease for the last year.  We've modeled the program loosely off of a national non-profit program, but we've kept it in line for our needs and our facility.

I have about 16-20 people spread out in 2 sections of our Parkinson's Boxing Class per week. I'm almost to the point to where I have to add another section to fill our demand.  We spend most of the time boxing, rather than other type of work such as medicine balls or anything like that.  However, we do include agility & mobility and a recent addition has been basic strength training.

Even within the boxing itself, we focus on various elements of fitness such as strength, endurance, reaction time, coordination, and cardiorespiratory endurance.  Some of what we have set up is fairly "mindless," but some of what we do requires a tremendous amount of mental awareness and thought.  These areas more than offset our "mindless" options which serve mostly as conditioning (to include all of those elements I discussed before).

I love having the opportunity to get to know each of my boxers.  They truly are wonderful people with wonderful stories.  Many of them have shown a resurgence in life and have taken their lives back over from the disease.  It's this triumph that has been inspiring above all.  I'm happy to serve them all in any capacity that I'm able to.

If you or someone you love is dealing with Parkinson's Disease or any neurological disorder, please don't hesitate to get them assistance.  It may be scary at first, but it'll allow for you to take back your life or theirs.  Remember "Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway."  -John Wayne

A punch stroke

One of the things that I love about working with neurological conditions is the puzzle factor.  Each person has a uniqueness that is not as evident in healthy people.  Each person poses a unique challenge that must be overcome to be effective as a trainer.  This challenge is thrilling and satisfying in ways that are unmatched.

On 2/28 I began leading a boxing class for individuals who have been affected by strokes.  Each participant has been hand-selected to help for us to "pilot" this program and is excited for us to get it off of the ground.  The purpose behind the boxing class is for us to hone in on strength, endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, weight transfer, balance, and with any luck, neuroplasticity.

Much of what we are trying to accomplish is to take the "medical" perception out of therapy.  Our program is supervised by a Physical Therapist specializing in neurological conditions, of which I refer to her as the "strategy."  I'm next in line and the lead on the "tactical" front, of which once we're in the room and engaged in the program, what I say goes.  From there we have several physical therapy interns and other trainers to assist in safety.

I'm excited about the program and it is our intention to spawn other programs.  We have been running a Parkinson's Disease boxing program for the last year with a high degree of success and participation.  In the same capacity, I'm the lead once in the room and the class beginning.  We have our own "proprietary" program which allows for us to be different when related to other programs that are in existence.

I'm excited for what the future holds in terms of helping these people heal.  In all honesty, I never would've imagined that this is what my life had in store for me and for that I'm appreciative.