A Rogge Awakening...

 Jacques Rogge, in one of his first ceremonial duties as IOC Past President, shocked the Parkinson's community early yesterday  morning when  he announced Parkinson's Disease  as a  demonstration sport for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. Parkinson's Disease now joins Lobbying and Pork Barrelling, two entrenched  IOC  sports  seeking the official nod to be included  in the 2022 Olympiad .
Though specific Parkinson's events have not been confirmed, they are thought to be freezing, tremoring, and dopamine dancing. While Canada has a history of medaling in dopamine dancing competitions at the world level, the country has little experience in freezing and tremoring at the elite levels – with both being considered recreational sports domestically. Within hours of this announcement, both Winnipeg and Pond Inlet, Northwest Territories were rumoured to have made overtures to the National body about being considered as Regional Freezing Training Centers.

Rogge  suggested that Parkinson's freezing would be a strong candidate as it has broad-based support in many countries of the world . "I can’t see any countries fielding any Freezy Dream Teams -  there is so much parity  in the sport”.  When asked if he had ever watched an  International level  "Freezy", Rogge  confessed, "No, but at Tuesday night Karaoke back in Lausanne, Clarence  from accounting and I always clean up with that Springstone song, "Tenth Avenue Freezie".

I can’t see any countries fielding any Freezy  Dream Teams -  there is so much parity  in the sport.

Weighing in on the issue over the abuse of freon (a common household refrigerant) doping for training and competition, Rogge reminded freezers that if they were intent on abusing Freon as a training and performance aid they might as well walk over to the  he ice sculpture contest.

Rogue denied an AP story that that he had been contacted by Lance Armstrong asking hypothetically, if he “caught” Parkinson’s in the next quadrennial, would he be eligible to compete? Armstrong is in the midst of a lifetime competition ban from virtually all sports and most board games.

This development has created quite a buzz in the Parkinson’s community. Judging from some of the email I’ve received already, there seems to be a dearth of scientific training information especially regarding the freezing event. For those who want to rekindle their competitive desires after years of inactivity, the absence of detail leaves them with more  questions than answers. 

Ernie writes: I am training for our local Freezy and log about 90 reps per day. Do I risk overtraining if I up my load?

Ernie,  as long as you have the energy the next day to do nothing and remain stationary, you can add some more volume to your regimen. Remember,  mileage makes champions!

Gifford Falway asks:  I don’t understand the proper protocol for training for this freezing event. Should we be doing intervals like track or rowing? As I understand it, my work period is while I am frozen - ie.  standing stationary...i.e. doing nothing. If I then move to a rest period -- i.e. when I’m again stationary...i.e., doing nothing, am I not simply resting from rest? Is my work my rest or is my rest my work - and won’t I inevitably overtrain/or is that under train?

Gifford, I/m sending this one to panel - as your question has even my mind spinning :-).

Barry I'm a coach with the Steel City Possums, a bunch of freezers here in Hamilton. I have a few issues here with protocol. My main trouble is that When I am timing the workouts I can never tell whether they are on the work or the rest period.  Any advice?

Derrick,you are right on track. You should not be able to tell the rest from the work. If you can, you are making some serious technical mistakes that need to be dealt with. Derrick, Stop Coaching! You can't coach freezing! The extent of my coaching is to mutter about every 5 min "Freezy, Peasy", or, "Freeze with ease"'.

Derek again here. I think we have some non-Parkinson's athletes infiltrating my group. How can I tell The Infiltrators from the real Parkies?

Derek, this is an easy one. Look for any hint of perceived effort or facial expression (during the work or the rest period). There should be absolutely none. The motion of freezing should be fluid, effortless, and should come to one as easy as putting one foot in front of the other.