Mary Yeaman found out in 2006 that she had Parkinson’s disease. She was barely able to go outside, her muscles had grown weak and she found it hard to deal with her situation.
“I’ve always done sports and stuff like that, and it was getting to be too much just sitting and doing nothing,” she said.
The following year, she discovered Rock Steady Boxing, located in Indianapolis. Going to classes every week since, she has seen a decrease in her symptoms as a result of a regimen that includes punching, jogging, stretching and jumping.
“It makes my muscles stronger. I can walk better,” said Yeaman, who does all this at the age of 64.
Rock Steady was founded in 2006 when Scott C. Newman found out he also was suffering from Parkinson’s. It is designed to give people suffering from the disease a way to improve their physical fitness, as well as ease some of the symptoms brought on by the disease. Tremors, loss of balance, muscle rigidity, as well as cognitive, vision and speech are all effects of Parkinson’s that the boxing inspired classes are designed to help ease.
“Sometimes people get very discouraged when they are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, understandably facing a disease that is progressive, that’s going to worsen over time and that can take a big toll on them,” said neurologist and Rock Steady board member Dr. S. Elizabeth Zauber.
“When they come to a gym and realize that … there are people that are experiencing the same thing (and) there is something they can do about it to get better and perhaps slow down the course of their disease, then that improves their overall outlook. They realize they’re still very capable physically even though they have a neurological disease.”
With 16 classes offered per week, Rock Steady has 125 clients ranging from their 30’s all the way up to their early 90’s.
Boxing drills are at the center of the classes. Punching hanging bags, jumping rope, and medicine balls are all incorporated into the routines. Depending on the severity of each participant’s disease, there are different class levels.
Boxing works well to combat the disease because of the range of motion required in the exercises, Zauber said.
“I see all the time in my patients that start exercising or my patients that are exercising that they tend to function better,” she said. “They have improvements in their balance, improvements in sleep, in mood and energy level.”
The group offers more than just improved physical conditioning, however.
“It’s a support system,” said Joyce Johnson, executive director of the organization. “It’s being able to come here where people understand the symptoms and challenges of the disease.”
Yeaman said Rock Steady is the “best thing that’s ever happened” to her and called her classmates her “second family.”
“These people are always there for you no matter what happens,” she said.
Kristy Rose Follmar and Christine Timberlake are the program directors. Follmar was a former boxer and Timberlake is a personal trainer whose husband was diagnosed with the disease back in 2000.
As a result of his taking the classes, she says his life has been transformed.
Parkinson’s affects about 1.5 million people in the United States. It currently has no cure.
