Rock Steady Boxing program fights back against Parkinson’s disease

Complications from Parkinson’s disease took Muhammad Ali on June 3 and the nation lost an icon. Despite its progressive symptoms – the shaky hands, soft speech and poor balance – Ali fought back until his dying breath.

In the basement of downtown’s The BodySmith, local Parkinson’s patients are punching, beating and yelling life back into their lungs in an effort to stave off the disease’s symptoms.

And it’s working.

“I feel like somebody again,” said Mark Overby, who was diagnosed in December 2015.

Last summer Overby couldn’t lift a 15-pound propane tank into the bed of his truck. During a recent weekend, he shot nine holes of golf.

“I haven’t done that in three years,” he said between punches. “There’s a vast improvement – vast.”

Roll with the punches
Overby is part of BodySmith’s new Rock Steady Boxing program that enables Parkinson’s patients to fight their disease through noncontact boxing-style fitness. The goal is to improve their quality of life, sense of efficacy and self worth. The Walnut Street Pilates and fitness studio became a Rock Steady affiliate after owner Shauna Smith Yates watched a segment about the program on CBS’ “Sunday Morning.”

“It called to me,” she said. “BodySmith is all about improving quality of life through healing and fitness. It was a natural fit.”

According to its website, Rock Steady was founded in 2006 by former Marion County, Indiana, prosecutor Scott Newman, who is living with Parkinson’s disease. The seed for what would eventually become Rock Steady Boxing was planted when Newman began intense, one-on-one boxing training just a few years after he was diagnosed at the age of 40. Newman witnessed the dramatic improvement in his physical health, agility and daily functioning through the high-energy workouts.

Recent studies suggest intense exercise programs may be neuroprotective, actually working to delay the progression of symptoms. According to a Cleveland Clinic study, aerobic fitness can be improved in Parkinson’s patients following exercise. The study showed exercise induces brain repair and accompanying behavioral recovery.
 
Yates signed up to be an affiliate in October and spent two days in Indianapolis this March training in the Rock Steady Method. BodySmith rolled out the program in April and currently has three participants.

“We’ve really focused on talking with the local doctors and getting the word out,” she said.

BodySmith pays less than $1,000 annually as an affiliate, which includes continuing education and the latest medical updates.

Yates said prices range from $18 for a single class to $175 for an unlimited monthly pass, and participants also must undergo a $50 initial assessment to determine abilities and provide a baseline measurement.

BodySmith is the only Rock Steady program in southwest Missouri, but regionally, Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis and Mountain Home, Ark., also have programs.

Toe-to-toe
Classes are broken into four ability levels, with level one the most ambulatory and level four’s doing most activities from a chair.

Today, trainers Susan Gilmore and Polly Brandman are working with Overby and his wife Pam. Known as the cornerman – a boxing term for the person in a fighter’s ring corner during the bout – spouses attend the class for free, helping lift, guide and support their fighters.

“I’ve watched him decline, so to be here to watch him climb is more than I ever could have hoped for,” Pam Overby said through tears. “This disease doesn’t just effect one person, it’s the whole family.

“Rock Steady has given us life back. We are taking our life back.”

Punching bags, beating a tire with a bat and yelling are all part of Mark’s routine. As a level one partcipant, Gilmore said each exercise is targeted toward a specific symptom. Drills focus on pattern to stimulate the brain, cross-body punches to activate both sides of the body and yelling to improve vocal projection.

Trainer Brandman said it’s all about quality of life and eliminating fear.

“We acknowledge people fall down, but let’s look at how you fall because maybe there’s a safer way,” she said. “When you eliminate fear, suddenly you can leave the house. When you eliminate fear, suddenly you have your life back.”