Punching back: HOPE boxing program helps Parkinson’s patients put disease on ropes
When Ralph DeLucia was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 57 in 2012, he never thought he’d be bobbing and weaving, or punching heavy bags in a boxing gym 12 years later.
After learning that Parkinson’s, a disease that affects the nervous system, would progressively impair his motor function, DeLucia, of Finleyville – who enjoyed mountain biking and skiing – wasn’t sure what his life would look like.
But in 2017, he saw a segment on a local news station about HOPE (Helping Overcome Parkinson’s Everyday), a program run by Wolfpack Boxing Club in Carnegie designed to use boxing to help Parkinson’s patients manage the symptoms of the disease.
DeLucia was intrigued, so he decided to check out the program.
He’s glad he did.
“It was probably the best thing that happened to me since I was diagnosed,” said DeLucia. “When I heard about (HOPE), I’d already had Parkinson’s for five years, and to that point, I had not met anybody else who had Parkinson’s. I walked into this place and I had an immediate support group, people who were experiencing the same things I was experiencing.”
DeLucia has been boxing four days a week ever since.
People face a range of motor and non-motor complications, but among the most common symptoms are slowing of the body, rigid muscles, balance impairment, and tremors.
Seven years after walking through the gym doors, DeLucia feels good. On a recent Thursday, DeLucia and a group of regulars spent 75 minutes punching speed bags, practicing punches, doing footwork and balance exercises, and performing calisthenics.
“What has helped me is, I’m a lot more flexible and have better balance now. We do balance exercises, we do core exercises, and a strong core is important for your balance. We do a lot of body weight exercises and boxing, things I wouldn’t be doing if I weren’t here,” said DeLucia.
Jeff Mucci owns Wolfpack Boxing Club and started the club in January 2017, about a month after a man with Parkinson’s walked into the gym and asked if Mucci offered a boxing program for those battling the disease.
“He came in in December of 2016, and I felt so bad about not knowing anything about Parkinson’s, so after he left, I looked into it and by January I got certified and started a program,” said Mucci. “We started with five members, and grew it to 60 at one point.”
Mucci is passionate about the program. He bears a tattoo on his left arm of a pair of boxing gloves and the word HOPE. He said boxing provides physical and cognitive benefits for people living with Parkinson’s.
“I love these guys. I enjoy them and I want them to get better,” said Mucci. “It’s become a community. I see how much HOPE means to them, and there is so much camaraderie. The No. 1 thing I want people with Parkinson’s, or people who know someone with Parkinson’s, to know is it’s always intimidating to walk through the door the first time, but at the end of the day, if you do nothing it gets worse tomorrow because it’s a progressive disease. So why not do something?”
The program – which includes all aspects of boxing except for contact fighting – is designed for people with different abilities and in different stages of the disease.
“We do focus on getting a good mix of boxing drills and cardio, and we make sure we practice footwork a lot because that’s one of the challenges a lot of people with Parkinson’s disease face – balance issues, gait issues, and even coordination issues – so we really spend a lot of time focused on their footwork and proper boxing stance. That’s helpful for anyone, but especially helpful for Parkinson’s patients,” said Chelsea Lane, a Wolfpack coach and HOPE instructor. “And the drills will be modified whenever someone needs to.”
Templeton Smith of Mt. Lebanon started boxing at Wolfpack after his neurologist recommended the program about five years ago. Smith, whose father and grandfather battled Parkinson’s, has been living with the disease for six years.
He boxes four days a week and rarely misses a class, in an effort to stay ahead of the disease.
“I was a bit of a couch potato before this. Parkinson’s got me down for a little bit after I got diagnosed, but now I need to come here. There are mornings I get up and think, ‘I’m not going to go today, I don’t feel like it.’ Then, when I get here, I think, ‘I might as well do it,’ and then halfway through the class, I’m glad I came. It keeps me moving and they play good music, and I feel great. My favorite part of it is chasing someone around the ring. I don’t sting like a bee, but I think I float like a butterfly,” Smith quipped.
Training as a boxer develops the physical and mental functions weakened by Parkinsons, such as muscle control, balance, and mental focus. In non-contact boxing, like the boxers at Wolfpack participate in, fighters don’t take any punches to the body or head, but they do punch bags and mitts.
For the boxers, HOPE allows them to embrace their lives with intention, despite fighting a degenerative disease. It gives them a sense of control, and provides psychological benefits.
“The boxing, for me, is just a lot of fun, and I need a group to work with. I’m one of those people that I’m not going to work out on my own,” said DeLucia. “We can talk about our medications and things we’re going through, or not. We can just enjoy boxing or lunch. Regardless of what you have going on, if you’ve got people who are going through the same thing it makes a huge difference. I did not understand that until I walked into this place seven years ago. We hold each other accountable.”
In boxing, like life, everyone gets knocked down. What’s important is getting back up, and the boxing program helps them do that, said Dr. Donald Ours II, a sports medicine physician at UPMC Washington.
“A Parkinson’s disease diagnosis is pretty traumatic. It’s a progressive disease these patients have to deal with for a long time, and a lot of times we see patients with chronic disease are at a high risk of depression, so getting them together with a group of people at the gym dealing with the same thing and having the same goal – let’s exercise, let’s box – is super important,” said Ours. “It’s awesome that (Wolfpack) works to provide a program that provides another avenue for people dealing with Parkinson’s,” said Ours.
Ours cited a 2022 study that concluded boxing has a positive impact on quality life, along with balance.
Boxing, it turns out, can help improve core strength, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, balance, and voice and speech issues (Parkinson’s patients often experience reduced volume).
He noted how coaches call out punches using a 1 through 6 number system, and the boxers have to throw punches that correspond to that sequence – for example, one, two, three would be a jab, right cross and left hook combination.
“Going through that progression helps them cognitively, as well as physically,” said Ours.
Wolfpack offers Parkinson’s classes four days a week, and usually about a dozen men and women attend the sessions.
Wolfpack’s Lane said boxers in the Parkinson’s class believe the sport has helped slow down progression of the disease and helps with symptoms.
“We absolutely have wins here. I had someone come in every morning and use the speed bag, and he would often say that after doing the speed bag for five minutes, the tremors in his hands would disappear for hours,” said Lane, who looks forward to teaching the class.
“This is selfishly the most fulfilling and rewarding job that I’ve had. I have learned so much and grown so much from seeing what the people in the class accomplish. They inspire me on a regular basis; it’s amazing what they push through. I am passionate to help them meet their goals and do what I can to help them through what they’re working against.”