However, new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research undertaken in partnership with The Perron Institute and boxer Rai Fazio has shown the sport — without an opponent — could be a valuable way for people suffering Parkinson’s disease (PD) to improve their quality of life.
ECU researchers had 10 people with early-stage PD perform three one-hour boxing sessions per week, over 15 weeks.
Rather than an opponent, the group did battle against a Fightmaster boxing unit, a commercially available device which has 11 padded punching targets mounted to a stand.
Participants completed two-to-three-minute “rounds” where they were required to strike the various pads in different sequences, followed by no more than two minutes of rest.
ECU’s Travis Cruickshank said boxing had grown in popularity among those living with PD, despite little evidence supporting its use.
“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,” he said.
Big benefits
After the 15-week program, nine of the 10 participants improved their score on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, a tool used to measure the progression and severity of PD.
The group also reported a reduction in fatigue and improvements in sleep.
“In the past, I might have been working with people with Parkinson’s and we’d have exercises in a gym, then a separate computerised cognitive training program, and another event for the social aspect,” Dr Cruickshank said.
“With boxing, we can combine all of those and deliver it really quickly, which makes it all more enjoyable and people will stick with it.”
A feasible option
Dr Cruickshank said a key aspect of the study was establishing boxing as a feasible option to be prescribed to people living with early-stage PD.
Despite the high intensity of many of the workouts, participants reported no increase in muscle soreness from the program, nor major injuries, which may be expected for people with PD.
“In fact, after we finished the study, everyone chose to buy a Fightmaster and have it installed in their home,” Dr Cruickshank said.
“So, in the future programs such as this could be run in people’s homes or in clinics, it could be self-administered, supervised in a clinic or done remotely via telehealth so people in regional areas can still be included.”
Expanding the fight
Dr Cruickshank said the next step was to trial boxing’s therapeutic effectiveness in a larger group of people living with various stages of PD.
He said he believed it could be effective for other neurological conditions such as Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and traumatic brain injury and more.
“Beyond these neurological conditions, people with cancer, may also see benefits, particularly to bone mineral content and muscle mass which is impacted by treatments,” he said.
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