During the Spring of 2026, I was able to complete my internship at Rock Steady Boxing, a gym for people with Parkinson's disease. At my internship, my duties were to develop parts of the workout plan and even the entire workout plan, demonstrate exercises and movements for the boxers, correct form and technique for the boxers during classes, progress or regress an exercise, supervise participants, lead the warmup and cooldown sections of a workout, and help/assist a boxer with any concerns or troubles they had with movement or a workout. Throughout this internship, I have learned how to specifically program workouts for those with Parkinson's disease, how to properly help someone up from the floor and a chair, how to properly warm up and cool down group classes, and how to create a program that fits cardiovascular, strength, and boxing training within 60 minute and 90 minute classes.

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Around a month into my internship, I was taught how to properly lift people from a chair and the floor. This was a significant learning experience as it was very specific to my future career in physical therapy, and I could finally help those out of a chair or from the floor safely if they had any trouble. At Rock Steady, we frequently work with individuals with weak balance or older individuals that are prone to falls or need extra assistance, which is why I was taught this valuable skill. Now, I have the knowledge to help my future patients out of a chair or from the floor!

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During the internship, I was given a task to create a 60 minute workout on for the online Zoom class. At this point, I've never designed a program for an online group fitness class, so it was definitely new and a challenge for me. The class was composed of a warmup, cardio, resistance training, core, boxing, and a cooldown. During the class, I was coming up with the timing on the fly and adapting to how much time each section was taking up. I learned a lot about how important timing is during a class, how to properly show exercises standing up versus in a chair, and how to show proper modifications and progressions virtually over Zoom.

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To summarize, at Rock Steady Boxing, I learned a lot as an intern, from creating workout programs to helping people stand from chairs and the floor to correcting form and creating modifications. I learned how to properly communicate with boxers and coaches, lead group workouts, use technology such as Zoom and the IPad to designate workout time and rest time, and how to critically think while creating workout plans.