Our New Normal - Temporarily

April marks the start of Parkinson’s Awareness Month. More than ever, I am excited to have a platform to share with you, what I have been called to do – coaching people to move more and stay strong so that they can live powerfully with PD. The energy of the universe continues to guide me in my pursuit. With my gym closed, I have no access to a rower. I have not logged meters since the beginning of March, placing me about 100k meters behind pace. But the goal is still the same. The mission is still intact. I remain committed on my journey to row one million meters. Just because we get knocked off course, doesn’t mean we quit. Take a detour and push forward.

As I look back on last month, I reflect on the challenges that we all faced and our new normal. For me, that meant making some adjustments and decisions, both personally and professionally. Personally, I am learning a lot about myself. When things started to slow down, I realized there were previous signs telling me to take it easy – SLOW DOWN! Moments of reflection can reveal a lot. Vision becomes clearer. I heard this message before, but now I’m listening. This has been a time to hit the reset button.

The decision to temporarily close the doors of Rock Steady Boxing Charlottesville was both tough and necessary. A “shutdown for the foreseeable future” meant that my athletes would not have their daily or weekly dose of sweat and social therapy. The opportunity to congregate with fellow Parkies would cease to exist until further notice. For many, it is their only chance to interact with someone other than their spouses or caregivers. Exercise allowed them to make new friends and start new conversations, steering away from dark periods of self- isolation. Many PWPs know all too well what is like to live in isolation. You know when I think about it, many of my athletes could write a book on social distancing. They were practicing long before COVID-19 hit our communities. Good news is that many of them HAVE stayed connected with each other. And that makes me feel good!

With challenges, come opportunity. There’s some positivity for you! If you are following the fitness community right now, online training and virtual sessions have been a big hit! With every gym in the country on mandatory lockdown, virtual training has provided an opportunity for clients to continue to practice a consistent workout schedule. Coaches and trainers have been able to sustain their business by converting in-person trainings to live 1-on-1 and Group virtual sessions via video conference platforms like Zoom. I myself utilize a coaching platform that allows me to deliver custom programs to my athletes with Parkinson’s. It has been a part of my business process for a little over a year and has proven to be well worth the investment. If you would like more information about training with me (in-person or virtually), please feel free to contact me at mypowerrefined@gmail.com.

Over the past several weeks, Power Over Parkinson’s has been busy coming up with creative ways to keep PWPs moving! In March, POP gave away a limited supply of inflatable punching bags to fighters in Central Virginia. Last week, POP introduced POPtv, a YouTube channel serving as a FREE opportunity to those living with PD to stay fit and connected during this isolated time. The recorded videos are produced by a collective of fitness enthusiasts to help PWPs continue to live and exercise from home, at least for now. As this global crisis persists and we continue to navigate our way through these uncertain times, POP will continue to do what it can to assist the PD community. Stay tuned for more great resources.

I mentioned earlier, challenges can present opportunity. I am very proud to be a part of the fitness community right now. Adaptability and creativity are at an all-time high. Coaches and Trainers continue to motivate clients to stay the course and keep reaching for the goals because they are still there. We are doing a great job providing a small sense of normalcy and a stress outlet, giving people the capacity to think about what is right in front of them – today. Honestly, even in my profession, I had no idea how much of a priority fitness is in the lives of the masses. Now just imagine if they have Parkinson’s Disease.

We should all come out of this with something to move forward with. I hope that when this epidemic is no longer a part of our lives, we have a better understanding of who we are, what we need to live well, and how we as individuals can be a resource to better serve our collective.

Cheers to health and wellness. BIG LOVE to ALL!

Movement is Medicine. Consistency is the Prescription

Meters Projected: 224,000

Meters Rowed: 201,872

My Journey

At the turn of the new year, I decided to not make a new year’s resolution. I didn’t want to make a laundry list of goals. Instead, I chose a theme – Consistency. Consistency in thought and in practice. With lots of changes happening around me, I have not practiced proper preparation and poor planning has made for inefficient use of my time each day. My thoughts, my practice, my actions have been inconsistent. I fell behind in my training. But a moment of morning reflection brought me back to the light. My approach has been wrong. I’ve been confusing consistency with perfection. I have been teaching the “80/20” Rule, but not following it (Coaches are the worst!). I now see this as a journey, not a task. I’m taking on an adventure where there will be many other lessons. If there was one goal to be said, it would state “1% better every day.” Small wins, over time, add up to big victories. Just enjoy the ride.

Movement is Medicine

The same can be said for exercise: Small doses, performed consistently throughout the week, will help you live a long, healthy life. It’s free medicine! The American College of Sports Medicine “prescribes” 150 minutes of exercise per week for everyone. For those living with Parkinson’s Disease, exercise is the best medicine. Some of my athletes refer to it as their “magic” pill. They take it regularly, at least sixty minutes a day, 3-4 times per week. We like to think of it as building our body of armor against Parkinson’s. Most imagine our classes to look like a typical Physical Therapy session. I highly recommend you come in for a visit. Your jaw will drop. A healthy blend of compassion, toughness, and hard work. It’s a fun social outlet that my athletes don’t typically experience outside of the gym. Music blasting in a room of 55-80 year-old men and women – yelling (cursing at me), punching, running, performing push-ups or squats to the now infamous sound of “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down!” Again, open invitation. Just be prepared to participate. You might get called out. My squad LOVES to show off!

Exercise is the most powerful, inexpensive readily available drug in the world! Unfortunately, the medical field has not yet fully embraced #movementismedicine. PWPs (People with Parkinson’s) are prescribed various types of medicine (most notable is Sinemet – a dopamine promoter used to treat symptoms like tremors, stiffness and difficult moving). On average, PWPs will spend $2,500 a year on medicine alone (www.parkinonsons.org)! That’s enough for a yearly gym membership with your very own personal trainer. With no sign of a cure, you can live a very long life with Parkinson’s. Can you imagine the savings each year if at diagnosis a prescription for exercise was written?

While PWPs view exercise as a way to slow the progression of PD, its time we all embrace exercise as preventative medicine. Over the past 60 years (give or take) so much evidence has been presented to help us understand the value and importance of exercise. We have more power than we think to take control and manage our health. A little bit, done consistently over time, will lead to a healthy, happy life.

Parkinson’s Disease Changed My Life…

It’s true. PD changed how I viewed my role in the fitness industry. I will explain more later. First, I think it is important to clear the air - I do not have Parkinson’s Disease. I am a Strength and Conditioning Coach who develops exercise programs to help PWPs (People w/ Parkinson’s) live as well as they possibly can with a progressive neuro-degenerative disease. However, as my good friend Sheldon Vicks (“The Voice of Rock Steady Boxing”) once stated, “Whether you have PD or live/work with someone who does, we are all living with PD.”

So back to my original statement – “PD Changed my life.” In 2016, I met a woman named Judy, who was in search of a boxing instructor willing to train a 70+ year old woman to box. The short of it is, Judy found me. A strength coach and boxing instructor who knew nothing about Parkinson’s Disease, except that the greatest boxer of all-time (Muhammed Ali) and Michael J. Fox had been diagnosed with a “disease that made people’s hands shake.” I did not know it at the time, but Judy’s influence would hit harder than Ali’s right hand to George Foreman. I stepped into the ring with an unforgiving monster (PD). I have yet to step out. And I don’t plan to. Judy’s story altered my course and made me realize that maybe my future was more about developing programs emphasizing quality of life, and less about looking like a Greek statue. I traded in my Muscle & Fitness and Flex Magazine subscriptions for “Parkinson’s Disease” in my Google search engine.

This year, my goal is to bring the fitness industry to the Parkinson’s Community. To do so, I (along with my good friend Ned Neuhaus) started the “Row2SlowPD” campaign, each rowing 1 million meters over the course of 2020, to bring awareness of the benefits of exercise in combatting symptoms of PD. As of today, I have rowed over 100k Meters. Long way to go, however, we are not alone! There are 15 Rowers – some rowing on land (Concept 2 Erg), others rowing on water! In the month of January, our team amassed 1.6 million meters. We are on pace to do something special!

The PD Community is willing and ready to try anything that could potentially reduce or even reverse their symptoms of PD. PWPs want to experience normalcy. They want to dance with their partners without fear of falling. They want to play on the floor with their kids or grandkids, get off the floor by themselves, and simply feel strong and confident while performing activities of daily living. So to all my fellow Fit Pros out there, reach out to your local community center or PD Group. Use your knowledge and talents to provide purposeful fitness. Get creative or keep it simple. Strengthen the PD community to help them Power Over PD!

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About Coach Jojo

Jojo McDuffie, Senior Adviser to POP, is a Strength and Conditioning Coach, residing in Charlottesville, Virginia. He currently works at The University of Virginia in the Department of Intramurals Recreational Sports, as Senior Facility Coordinator and Instructor/Personal Trainer. He is also the owner of Rock Steady Boxing Harrisonburg and Head Coach at RSB Charlottesville, working directly with athletes diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.