Steve's Story

12 years ago I thought I'd be in a wheelchair.

I was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's Disease in 2008 at age 40. Although I was a fitness trainer and had been a positive force for change in other people's lives, after 8 years of living with the disease, I had given up hope. Afterall it was only ever going to get worse.

After spending almost 20 years working as a Fitness Trainer, training other trainers all over the world, (it’s estimated that I have trained approx. 300,000 trainers worldwide) and spending 14 years living and working in Europe, I was left with the devastating news that I had Parkinson’s Disease. While I didn’t know too much about Parkinson’s, I thought my future looked bleak.

From my initial diagnosis in 2008 until the end of 2016, my Parkinson’s slowly ate away at me. Movement become more difficult, I had trouble with my speech, cognition, balance, memory and while all this was occurring, my level of medication kept going up.

By the end of 2016, I was taking almost 250mg of Levadopa (Stalevo) every 3 hours. By the end of each day, Dyskinesia would usually set in and ruin my evenings. I was depressed, unable to see a way out of the future that loomed before me!

Thankfully in early 2017, I was introduced to boxing! Having studied Martial Arts in my late teens/early twenties, my partner thought it would be good for me. Putting those boxing gloves on and stepping into the ring for the first time, changed my life! I went from virtually no exercise since my diagnosis, to boxing everyday. Within a few weeks my wife noted that I seemed to have a lot more energy than before... and she was right.

Three months later I had to drop my level of medication. This was the first of many reductions in my medication. I was taking 250mg of Levadopa every 3 hours. I now take less than 50mgs every 3-4 hours. Through hard work and many hours in the boxing gym, I managed to wrestle control of the disease back into my hands.

While life still has it’s testing moments, I definitely don't need a wheelchair! High intensity exercise has been shown in study after study to be the most effective way of slowing the advance of Parkinson’s. I’m living proof that this is the case.

Since then it has been my passion to help those with Parkinson’s learn the lessons I’ve learnt. Whether you are a fitness freak or never exercised a day in your life, you too can benefit from high intensity exercise. My goal is to help you keep your Parkinson’s under control and living your life to the full!