Unpredictable (I)

Last week, my boxing was as good as it ever has been since I started training four years ago. My personal trainer noticed immediately. I responded quickly to instructions and was full of energy, my movements were fluid and fast and it felt fantastic.

Same time, same place, one week later, same personal trainer, same routine but my boxing was amongst the worst it has ever been since I started training four years ago. I had hardly any energy, my movements were slow and my body rigid. I struggled to follow the simplest instruction and there was absolutely no hope of fluid or fast!

Thankfully my personal trainer is very experienced at training people with Parkinson’s, so he adapted the session to make sure I still had a good workout and didn’t miss out on the exercise that is such an important part of managing Parkinson’s.

I’m learning that there is no way of predicting whether I will respond as in the first or second scenario at any given time. There is no pattern, no precursor, nothing that could explain the difference. It is exactly the same with other forms of exercise, many daily activities and also social occasions. My ability to do many things varies from week to week, day to day and sometimes hour to hour. It makes planning anything very difficult. This unpredictability is one of the many hidden challenges of living with Parkinson’s.