When it comes to battling Parkinson’s, Jacksonville coach Amy Little goes the extra mile

Rock Steady Boxing at the Bob Freesen YMCA is part of a nationwide program specifically designed for people with Parkinson’s disease, an incurable disorder of the central nervous system. The class leader is Amy Little, and several times a week she pushes the participants to jab, hook and uppercut for Parkinson’s disease.

“There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but exercise repels these symptoms,” Little said. “Research has shown that the Rock Steady Boxing program helps slow the progression of the disease, and it also helps improve the quality of life for participants today.”

“The motto of Rock Steady Boxing is ‘counterattack’. That’s why I always say in class, “Come on, fight, fight Parkinson’s,” Little said. “Because Parkinson’s disease encroaches on a person, it makes life small, it changes everything. ”

Little runs four Rock Steady boxing classes every Monday and Friday, as well as four regular exercise classes for people with Parkinson’s disease every Wednesday at the YMCA.

“Strenuous, forced exercise is what makes such a big difference in someone with Parkinson’s disease. There are very few people who train really hard on their own, but when you train in a group and someone like me tells you to go, go, go, you will do more. Little said. “Plus, peer pressure, whether you’re 14 or 74, is a real thing in a classroom. You don’t want to stop because the person next to you isn’t stopping.

Strenuous exercise produces dopamine, the substance that is greatly depleted by Parkinson’s disease, Little said. Dopamine helps relay messages from the brain to muscles, which is why people with Parkinson’s disease may have difficulty moving around or performing simple tasks. When exercise increases participants’ dopamine levels, their symptoms are temporarily reduced and they feel better.

But why boxing instead of other forms of exercise?

“Boxing is considered the number one elite exercise and anyone who has seen ‘Rocky’ can tell you why, because of the way they have to train,” said Little. “Boxers need balance, agility, coordination, strength and brain work because you have to remember what to do and when. Boxing therefore has everything you need to exercise.

Little has “no connection with Parkinson’s disease.” All I knew was Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox like everyone else. She stumbled across what she now calls her “true calling” one night while surfing the internet and clicked on something that popped up about Parkinson’s and boxing.

“I was instantly mesmerized and immediately drawn to,” Little said.

Little had been a yoga teacher at the YMCA and in 2018 helped develop “chair yoga” for some older members of First Christian Church in Jacksonville. Chair yoga allows people to experience the benefits of exercise without having to lie on the floor. Not many people saw the difference it made in people’s lives, so when she heard about Rock Steady Boxing it seemed natural to her to try and serve another part of the population that has traditionally been overlooked.

Little approached YMCA Executive Director Mary Henry with the idea for Rock Steady Boxing in February 2019.

“I had no idea Mary’s dad had Parkinson’s disease,” Little said. “So when I asked her if she ever heard of this boxing and Parkinson’s thing, her mouth opened and her eyes got huge, and she said ‘you’re kidding me.’ two years that I want to do this here ‘.

Little took an American Parkinson’s Disease Association course for people in the fitness industry to learn about Parkinson’s disease, then went to Rock Steady Boxing training in Texas.

“There in Texas, it was my first time hitting a sack and wearing a pair of boxing gloves,” Little said. “I really like that. It was really good to hit that bag, that whole stress relieving thing.

Little asked a retired state soldier friend who had taken self-defense training to show her some extra things that she could work on in her Rock Steady boxing class. Then, in August 2019, Little began teaching the class at the YMCA.

“It’s so exciting, especially day to day when they come in and they can’t walk well or move well,” Little said. “Then they start hitting the bag, and I see them come out of the classroom better than they entered. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever known. ”

“They probably do more for my life than I do for theirs, they’re the most optimistic and resilient people,” Little said. “I have never been so happy to go to work in my life. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Little is a Westfair Christian Academy and Illinois College graduate who taught high school English for a time before focusing on teaching fitness. She has learned a lot about Parkinson’s disease over the past two years, including how the disease tends to isolate and exhaust those who have it, and that sometimes participants in her classes are unable to attend due to the progression of incurable disease.

Little encourages anyone with Parkinson’s disease to contact the YMCA and ask questions about Rock Steady Boxing. Those who are interested should be assessed first because “Parkinson’s disease is called ‘snowflake disease’ because no two people are the same,” Little said. “So we want to make sure everyone is in the right place at the right time for what is working for them.”

“I encourage anyone with Parkinson’s to take this bold step, what they will find is that they can do immeasurably more than they think they can do,” said Little. “They will also find other people who know what they are going through. They need this. There is no point in staying home alone.