As a result of what I learned at the World Parkinson Congress, I’m changing some aspects of my life and on this Parking Suns website.
The first change is that I joined a 2nd gym in my town. (It’s not breaking the bank, either, as my regular gym just instituted a special promotional rate for people who work in the New York public schools. My membership is now only $20/month. Yee haw!)
The 2nd gym is my town’s Cross Fit Gym, which is basically a huge empty room where you don’t work out alone but take cross fit classes. What are cross fit classes like? Here’s their promo video. I’ve only taken one class so far, but we did many of the things you see here:
I made this change after I reviewed my notes from the WPC session on exercise and the brain. It’s now clear to me that I need some kind of exercise that not only works on strength, but also includes an aerobic component *and* a cognitive component. The cross fit classes accomplish all three. During my first hour, we frequently left the gym to run 400 meters outdoors on the streets of Ossining (aerobic). We did crazy exercises that were both mental and physical, such as squatting down, grabbing our ankles, and walking across the room in that position (cognitive). And we lifted weights (strength).
So my plan going forward is to lift weights and/or use the spin bike 2 x week at my old gym; take a cross fit class 1 x week, and swim longish distances (2000-3000 meters) in our town pool 2 x week. And somehow squeeze in a 60-minute yoga/stretch session at home.
Let’s see how this goes!
I’ll either be fit…or cross! Cross my heart!
