Rotary Club of Howden Trust Fund

1000 Press-Ups a day for Parkinson's

Having reached the biblical allotted lifespan of three score year and ten (70 in new money) earlier this year, I thought I would take the opportunity to give a proverbial 2 fingers to the twin challenges of age and Parkinsons. But, more importantly, whilst January is more often associated with GIVING SOMETHING UP, I thought it would be better instead to make it an opportunity for GIVING SOMETHING BACK – to those great organisations working within the community to beat Parkinsons - St Paul’s Boxing Club in Hull, Goole Amateur Boxing Club, (both of who now have very active Parkinson’s Boxing Groups), and Parkinsons UK.

Boxing is increasingly being recognised by participants and scientists alike as an effective way of mitigating many of the symptoms of Parkinson's. It improves brain/eye/body connectivity and coordination; it improves balance and posture and it also provides a whole of body cardio workout. I believe too that it helps improve the mood - half empty glasses become half full.

Muhammed Ali once said “Inside the ring or out, there ain't nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.” Well, none of the “Parkies” I have come across at boxing are ever going to stay down.

The 2 Boxing Clubs I am involved with - are both working with Parkinson's UK to build a local resource to support what we hope will be an increasing number of "Parkies" participating in the Parkinson's boxing sessions that both clubs now run. Both clubs have also made it clear that they are keen to support other groups of folk who may be "health compromised".

And so I want to raise some funds for Parkinsons UK and the 2 Boxing Clubs by undertaking a challenge worthy of such a great initiative and great people. After much research(really?) and seeking opinion, I have settled on that challenge - an attempt to do 1000 press-ups a day during January (albeit with a contingency for 4 free days if circumstances dictate)!

What finally decided me was when I asked St Paul's head coach Mike Bromby what he thought. His reply was to the point – “you’re mad!” he said.

He’s probably right

1000 press-ups a day works out at 31,000 in a month or, at approximately 75% of body weight, 65 tonnes a day / 2015 tonnes in the month

The first hit when I Googled “1000 press-ups a day” was ‘No normal person wants to know how to do 1,000 pushups a day’.

For men over the age of 60, the Amerícan College of Sports Medicine recommends ‘between 8 and 10 pushups’

So, I think I have chosen a challenge that I still believe to be achievable but is certainly not a stroll in the park!

Training has started, now all I have to do is to try and get sponsorship so that Parkinson's UK, St Paul’s Boxing Club and Goole Amateur Boxing Club can continue to benefit those impacted by this bloody disease. Oh yes … and then do a few press-ups in January!

Should you wish to donate, then this is the place to do it and many thanks. This GoFundMe page is administered by the Rotary Club of Howden - a registered charity and also registered for Gift Aid. Howden Rotary will then distribute ALL funds raised + Gift Aid to the 3 respective organisations

To Donate:

St Pauls Parkinson's Punchers Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icl0K1Gm2Uw

For Further Information on Beneficiaries:

https://www.stpaulsboxing.co.uk/

https://www.gooleboxingclub.org/

https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/

Pressups4Parkinsons - A Million Pressups

Parkinson’s is a degenerative condition of the brain. It is progressive – it gets worse over time. There is no cure. But ….boxing seems to have the amazing ability to help manage the disease and hopefully even delay or slow down the dreaded progression.

Last January, at the wrong side of 70, I set myself the, some would say crazy, challenge of doing 1000 pressups a day for the whole of January. This was to raise funds for Parkinson’s Boxing and to raise awareness of the benefits that boxing can bring to People with Parkinson’s (PwP).

Due to people’s incredible generosity the project raised £22,000 and certainly increased awareness. The money raised went towards Parkinson’s UK & England Boxing developing a coaching course for those coaching People with Parkinson’s, the delivery of 9 courses to over 150 coaches and also funds to help run weekly Parkinson’s Boxing sessions at St Paul’s Boxing Academy and Goole Amateur Boxing Club.

But there remains still plenty to be done. We now have an opportunity to build on what we have already achieved not only for Parkinson’s but other conditions also – and to push the challenge out into the wider community

So, what I have planned is a target of A MILLION pressups in January, undertaken by a wide group of people with the 1 million being the total for all participants. Each participant will set their own target number of pressups per day – achievable but challenging. It is NOT a competition – the only person participants will be competing against will be themself! Nobody else will know how many anybody has set as a target or how many they have achieved – unless of course they tell people themselves. Options (e.g. wall pressups) will be available for those who may struggle with conventional pressups.

Anybody can take part – all they need is to be able to do pressups and the determination, will power and resilience to keep it going for 31 days. For my part, I will aim to knock out a similar number as last time. The pressups can be done anywhere and any time of day

Once the month is up there will be one final “last round” for those with some pressups still left in the tank - a 24 hour “Pressup Marathon”. People can come and go as they please over the 24 hours and do as many or as few pressups as they want. Some may want to join me in seeing just how many pressups we can bang out in 24 hours. Could 5,000 be possible? Could 10,000? Seems a nice round number!

The main aim is to get as many people participating as possible. I would rather 500 take part doing 65 pressups a day and raising say £30 each than a handful doing a shedload. This challenge will not only raise awareness but hopefully, in the words of England Boxing, also engage the community in a meaningful and inspiring way

More details to follow re sponsorship/donations etc.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1250321676054725

Registration - https://www.cognitoforms.com/RotaryClubOfHowden/Pressups4Parkinsons2

Donations - https://gofund.me/bf06d862