Whether you are trying to do pull-ups, carrying luggage or opening a stubborn jar, a strong grip is important in a variety of exercises as well as everyday activities. What you may not realize is that your grip may also be indicative of overall health. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that grip strength is a predictor of muscular endurance and overall bodily strength. Other studies have found that a stronger grip correlates with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. Researchers say the findings definitely suggest a link between heart health and muscle strength.

Because general hand health is important, extension as well as flexion in the fingers, you may need to build the muscles on both the top side and palm side of your hands.

Exercising all parts of your hand will also help you avoid creating an imbalance between the muscles that help you open and close your hands. And, because overworking only the muscles used to closed your hands, could lead to tendonitis, try strengthening both sides of your mitts by shoving your hand into a bowl of warm uncooked rice or sand and extend and flex your fingers.

There are actually three types of grip strength, namely crush, pinch and support. Each one lends itself to the overall sturdiness of your grasp. The crush grip is the strength between your fingers and your palm, which helps you shake hands or crumple up a piece of paper. The pinch grip is the strength between your fingers and thumb, the one used to grab a piece of paper, for instance. The ability to hold onto something such as a bag handle for a long period of time, is called support grip.

How can you improve your grip? Here are a few simple moves:

Place a dumbbell in your hand and then let it roll down your hand and catch it with the tip of your fingers.

Gripper squeeze: Using a hand gripper/exerciser or a stress ball you may have at home, flex your fingers into your palm and out for twenty seconds.

Newspaper roll: After you’ve read the Sunday paper, place your hand on top of one sheet, pulling the paper in with your fingertips until you roll the paper into a ball.

Pinch moves: Press each fingertip to your thumbs and hold a few seconds, then open your fingers in a stretched position for a few seconds and proceed to the next finger and thumb, etc.

Susan Covey is the director of Health and Fitness at Acts Bayleigh Chase

Just as exercise is touted to be beneficial for young and old alike, it has also been proven to be especially beneficial to those with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This neurodegenerative brain disease is characterized by various movement disorders including tremors, rigidity, stiffness, slowness of movement, poor balance, stooped posture, a shuffling gait and periodic freezing.

The Parkinson’s Foundation specifically recommends at least 2.5 hours of vigorous exercise per week, which can improve balance, flexibility and inflammation. It has also been shown to improve neuroplasticity, the brain’s own way to adapt to changes. It is a natural re-education of the neurons to modify messages received by the brain. Learning new exercises, like learning a new language or mastering puzzles, are all techniques used by those who are aging, as well as those with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s.

Forced Intense Exercise is proven to be the best way to slow PD symptom progression and create these new pathways to the brain.  Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) is a perfect example of this prescribed intense movement.  It is a non-contact fitness program designed specifically for people with PD.  Founded in 2006 by a young onset patient who wanted to challenge his disease, its origin comes from his personal regimen designed by a boxing trainer.

Why boxing?  According to RSB national headquarters, “Boxers condition for optimal agility, speed, muscular endurance, accuracy, hand-eye coordination, footwork and overall strength to defend against and overcome opponents. At RSB, Parkinson’s Disease is the opponent. Exercises vary in purpose and form but share one common trait: they are rigorous and intended to empower people with PD to fight back.” Besides being fun and socially engaging, the program has other reported benefits including increased independence and confidence as well as the many physical improvements.  By the way, the RSB logo of the Statue of Liberty embellished with a boxing glove, was RSB’s founder (Steve Newman) idea: “The inscription on the statue combined with the hope she symbolizes echoed his dream that Rock Steady Boxing would be the beacon of light and hope for those suffering from Parkinson’s disease.”

In order to bring this awesome program to the shore, a partnership was formed between the YMCA of the Chesapeake (Wendy Palmer, YMCA Associate Executive Director); 360 Strong (Lynn Sutton, Owner and RSB Coach); Maryland Assoc. for Parkinson’s Support & the Wells Foundation (coordinator Jack Harrald) and Bayleigh Chase-Acts Retirement Community (Me-Susan Covey, Fitness Director and RSB Coach).  Our group created two Rock Steady Boxing classes offered live pre-COVID at the Y@Washington St. and in Grasonville.  We are currently hosting our classes on Zoom, free of charge to participants twice a week!

Those of us who have become coaches are trained professionals with a clear understanding of PD.  We work with our boxers on specific skills to improve footwork, coordination and strength.  We understand the hesitation some participants may feel and the limitations before beginning a workout program. But, as coaches, we stress the positivity of commitment and emphasize how stretching, strength building and agility all help with motor control and with building those new brain connections to help slow the disease progression.

Personally speaking, as one of the coaches for our local RSB class, I can think of an endless number of adjectives to describe my boxers, my everyday heroes… those who deal with the degenerative disorder of Parkinson’s Disease. Here are just a few:  strong, focused, tenacious, dedicated, supportive, positive, hopeful and fun-loving!

If you are living with Parkinson’s Disease and are looking for a program which addresses all facets of exercise, that will give you social interaction (yes, even on Zoom!), teach you to walk better, fall better, get up and down more safely, increase your body’s rotational abilities, help with your voice activation and give you an opportunity to punch out Parkinson’s and have fun doing it, RSB is the answer! Please contact feel free to contact me at susan.covey@actslife.org for more information.

Susan Covey is the Rock Steady Boxing Coach and Fitness Director for Bayleigh Chase, an Acts Retirement Community.

 

It’s understandable if your exercise routines and self-care habits have been placed on the back burner in this new era of COVID-19.  Several months into this new reality, most of us are now ready, or even borderline desperate, to reestablish a healthy routine!

You may be feeling a bit off. Why, you ask? Our brain includes a system that contributes to daily wellbeing. It is the body’s internal biologic clock. It keeps our body and behavior synchronized with the 24-hour cycle of light and dark.  Predictable routines keep the body’s internal clock running smoothly and help us feel better. However, in times of major upheaval, we may have trouble resetting these biologic rhythms. Try the following tips for 21 days (that’s how long it takes to make a routine a habit) and see how much better you feel!

1. Forget the old and accept the new. Adapt to change and let go of your desire to go back to how things once were. Change helps us grow and become stronger. Also take comfort that everything happens for a reason.
2. Reflect on what is true for you now and create structure around your current reality.  Look at your current schedule and to-do list.  What has changed?  It helps to write down your priorities.
3. Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day.  This stabilizes your body clock and maintains natural rhythms.
4. Make sure you spend some time outdoors every day, especially in the early morning if possible.  Again, your body clock is regulated by the light-dark cycle.
5. Get your daily dose of vitamin D. If you can’t go outside, try to spend at least 2 hours by a window.
6. Plan the day ahead. Set times for a few regular activities each day. Write it down.
7. Be consistent with mealtimes. Eat meals at the same time every day, even it’s just a small snack.
8. EXERCISE EVERY DAY!  Walk, take a strength class or yoga, work out in the fitness center, or try something new and different. 

As someone with 30 years of experience in health and fitness, I can assure you exercise is vital to re-establishing a healthy routine. You must fight for the life that you want! It’s not enough to say you’ll exercise three times a week.  Mark your workouts on your calendar as you would any other appointment, even set a reminder on your phone.  

Obsess less about the frequency and volume of exercise and focus instead on variety. Mix it up! Variety prevents overuse injuries caused by doing the same movement over and over again. Consider adding strength training to your cardio routine. Studies have shown individuals who do both aerobic and resistance training have a lower risk of obesity. Don’t stress about the length of your workout. Frequent, short sessions of movement work very well. 

Release the all-or-nothing attitude and embrace good enough. The imperfect workout you complete is better than the perfect one you never started!  Strategize what to do when your plans fall through. If you’re too tired for the 20-minute walk, do a shorter walk instead.  

Finally, make each day a little different but always keep activity in it. 

REMINDER:  We are dealing with a virus that attacks the lungs.  Exercise leads to more durable, resistant lungs to help fight the pandemic.

The Spy is pleased to welcome Susan Covey as a regular contributor to the Spy.  She is the Fitness Director at Bayleigh Chase in Easton and has 30 years of experience in health and fitness. She was previously Director of Health and Fitness for about 20 of those years. Susan has a B.A. Sociology and is a certified senior fitness specialist, exercise therapy specialist and FallProof! instructor. She began at Bayleigh Chase as a personal trainer and continues to update her education to develop, modify and enhance her fitness program to keep older residents active and healthy.