Tue. Dec 10th, 2024
Rock Steady Boxing Syracuse is helping central New Yorkers fight Parkinson’s disease.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Rock Steady Boxing Syracuse plans to be a “one-stop shop” for Parkinson’s disease rehab

Kyra Ceryanek: At Rock Steady Boxing Syracuse, treatment doesn’t come in a pill bottle. It comes in the form of a punch…or two. Rock Steady Boxing-a national organization-helps people with Parkinson’s improve their movement and mental health in a unique way. Rich Lauber was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease six years ago at age 59. He had no idea, at the time, that boxing would be the answer.   

Rich Lauber: I came out here and it is totally not what I expected. It’s a blast. We have a good time, they work us hard. But, I really attribute this program to my symptoms not really progressing in the last five years.

Ceryanek: Lauber knows first-hand that everybody experiences different symptoms with Parkinson’s. The boxing sequences and combos help him with the tremor in his hand. As a coach with Rock Steady Boxing Gabe Yankowitz sees how this exercise slows down Parkinson’s. Yankowitz says boxing goes beyond treating the common symptoms people tie to Parkinson’s. 

Gabe Yankowitz: Probably one of the biggest effects of Parkinson’s…is freezing, you know that people have a hard time moving and what the boxing does is it trains people so that they learn how to get their brain to tell their arms and legs, you got to move.

Ceryanek: When he’s hitting the bag, Lauber is working to keep his symptoms from getting worse. 

Lauber: There are times that I forget I have Parkinson’s to be honest with you.

Ceryanek: When Lauber and others leave the doors of the gym each day, they know they are putting their best fight forward. In Liverpool, Kyra Ceryanek, NCC News.

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (N.C.C News) – A unique rehab opportunity for Central New Yorkers living with Parkinson’s disease is set to expand their services. 

Rock Steady Boxing Syracuse is a non-contact boxing program that works to improve the physical and mental symptoms of people living with Parkinson’s disease. It is the cornerstone project of the not-for-profit corporation, Empower Parkinson, Inc. 

This program is one of over 900 Rock Steady Boxing gyms worldwide. 

But an upcoming move will make this one of the few to offer acute-rehab, a more consistent form of physical therapy.

Executive director of Empower Parkinson and Rock Steady Boxing certified coach Patrick VanBeveren, said the recent purchase of their new building will allow the program to offer more individualized care to Parkinson’s patients.

“Right now, it’s just post-acute therapy care, post acute group exercise,” said VanBeveren. “When you’re first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, you need physical therapy and occupational therapy (PT-OT) and speech therapy. We will be able to have that on-site in the new building.” 

This expansion is coming at a time when Parkinson’s cases are on the rise. 

“(Parkinson’s is) now the second-most common and the fastest-rising neurogenic disorder in the world,” according to Cornell University doctoral candidate Senegal Alfred Mabry.

“More people are going to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease this year than any other year,” Mabry said. “More than any other neurodegenerative disease.”

Many people see Parkinson’s as a motor disorder because of the visible, physical symptoms like tremors. However, PD is a neurodegenerative disorder, meaning changes take place in the brain. 

Rock Steady Boxing coach Gabe Yankowitz said boxing slows down the progression of the disease. 

“Probably one of the biggest effects of Parkinson’s is freezing,” Yanowitz said. “People have a hard time moving, and what the boxing does is it trains people so that they learn how to get their brain to tell their arms and legs, you got to move.”

Some members of RSB Syracuse have been with the gym close to its start back in 2017. After an almost three-and-a-half year search, members are excited to move to a new building, one where they will have all aspects of their treatment under one roof. 

“Well, I’ve taken advantage of everything they’ve offered since I’ve been here in 2018 at least once,” said Joy Hammond, a member since 2018. “So yes, I am looking forward to settling in some place too, and knowing that we’re going to be there because we’ve known every time we go some place that it’s temporary.” 

Rock Steady Boxing will move into their new building in March and open in June after renovations are done.

For more information on Rock Steady Boxing Syracuse and the programs offered by Empower Parkinson, visit their website.