Welcome to my blog those who are new. People ask me a lot of questions but these are the ones that come up over and over again so this is a quick blog answering 5 questions.
- Were you a gymnast as a kid? Is that why you can do a handstand? I never did gymnastics as a kid but I did do handstands in the playground.
- Did your coach come back? (you have to watch Handstand for Parkinson’s to understand this question) My coach did come back after leaving me and it was pretty quick, as soon as I finished editing the video. It was more like a break but it was devastating at the time.
- Why did you do gymnastics? I had been watching my twins do gymnastics since they were 4 so the gymnastics facility was a location I knew well and the coach was my girls coach which made it easier for me to ask him to train me as I knew he had an adult class. There are no Parkinson’s disease physiotherapists or exercise classes where I live, so I was pretty desperate to find something to help my body move better. I knew that I needed accountability and a tough coach to push me along. I didn’t know it was going to work so well at all but retrospectively one sees that balance, coordination and strength are features of gymnastics so it make sense. I do mainly physical preparation rather than tricks and it took 9 months before I tried a handstand.
- You must train every day for long periods of time? I started off with 45 minutes, 3 times a week and then I raised it to an hour and eventually 3 times a week, 2 hours a day. Often I’d do an extra low key session on Saturdays. It is a solid commitment I think it’s doable and worth it.
- Does your coach know anything about Parkinson’s disease? Is he trained? My coach didn’t know much about Parkinson’s disease, so I explained the basics. But he did have a friend who had had the disease and who he told me stories about. I gave him some things to read and he might have investigated further. I’d done a PD warrior Course as a patient in Australia so that gave me some good principles but the coach really did what he usually does with gymnasts making adjustments for sore knees etc and lowered his expectations. He seemed to have a good eye for what needed work.
If you have other questions ask in the comments or on twitter: https://twitter.com/christinejeya
My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristineJeya
