Maryland boxing classes help improve quality of life for people living with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is rapidly growing, and while there's no cure for the disease, exercise can help ease symptoms. That's why the Maryland Association for Parkinson Support, known as MAPS, offers free exercise classes.

Rock Steady Boxing by MAPS is about more than just boxing. Participants move from station to station to perform different exercises, each with a distinct focus, ranging from power, speed, footwork, agility and control.

Prevalence of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is the world's fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder, and it's growing faster than Alzheimer's — its prevalence increasing by 155.5% between 1990 and 2019. It's the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease.

Parkinson's disease affects everyone differently. Some of the common symptoms that impact movement include tremors in one or both hands, stiffness (also known as rigidity), slow movements and balance problems. Other symptoms can include sleep issues, constipation, depression and anxiety.

Rock Steady Boxing at MAPS

This Parkinson's Awareness Month, we caught up with participants during one of their workouts at Rock Steady Boxing MAPS at Charm City in North Baltimore.

The class is led by head coach Patricia Wessels and starts with about a 12-minute warm-up using PWR! Moves — PWR stands for Parkinson's Wellness Recovery — it's a series of stretching and movement tasks to lubricate the joints and get the muscles ready to perform.

"Parkinson's tends to make movements smaller," said Wessels. "Our warmup is focused on big amplitude movements first and then trying to get speed while maintaining amplitude second."

While warming up, an additional cognitive task is added. Coaches will ask questions of the group, and they can shout out their response.

Next, they move on to different timed workout stations set up around the gym that change daily.

"We make sure that we have stations that are working on posterior chain strength, we're working at the functional movements like sit to stand, twist and roll, and we always have things that incorporate balance and agility," said Wessels.

Can this help slow down the progression of Parkinson's? According to Wessels, the current science says yes.

"Intensive cardiovascular exercise performed regularly can slow the progression of the disease process," she said. "Sadly, we can't stop it. We are just trying to slow it down and, more importantly, we're trying to reclaim skills that may have already been lost."

One of the largest-ever clinical studies of Parkinson's disease, called the Parkinson's Outcomes Project, shows that at least 2.5 hours a week of physical activity can slow Parkinson's disease symptom progression.

Sense of community

Rock Steady Boxing offers high and lower-level intensity classes to meet participants' needs.

"I think that Parkinson's can be a really lonely disease, and this brings them together in community, on top of just kicking some butt," said Wessels.

That sentiment is felt among the participants like Larry Kleinman, who started coming four months ago after his wife heard about the program.

"What it's adding is strength and agility and a certain amount of community," said Larry Kleinman. "It makes me feel like I'm not so isolated."

He's a retired nephrologist, a doctor who specializes in kidney care.

"That's a similar type of illness [kidney disease] in the sense that studies have been shown that people who have kidney disease, if they exercise and they eat properly and stay away from things that we all know are harmful — like smoking and excessive alcohol intake — they do better than those people that don't," said Kleinman.

After coming for a few months now, he says he feels a bit like wanting to tap himself on the back for taking this step and putting forth the extra effort.

"I think that, not to do anything would be very frustrating and very crushing, and to think that the only thing that I have that's available is the medicine that's currently in existence would be very frustrating," he said.

For Paul Friedlander, the class keeps him mobile.

"I almost feel normal walking down the stairs out to my car after having done the exercises," he said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't last for long enough, but coming three times a week keeps me pretty functional and pretty active."

Friedlander has early-onset Parkinson's disease, so his progression has been slow since his diagnosis 17 years ago. He's been coming to Rock Steady Boxing for the last 3 years.

"I didn't want to get involved in a bunch of things at first," said Friedlander. "I didn't want Parkinson's to really be my identity, but now that I'm here… It's a blessing to be able to be involved with these people and go on the journey together with them."

He has a lot of problems with rigidity and says a lot of the benefits he gets are the constant repetitiveness and pushing the limits of what he can do.

"The other thing for me I've gained is confidence," he said. "You don't realize it, but when you have this disease, you start to pull away from things. You don't do things that you used to do. You're worried about I shuffle my feet too much; am I going to trip and fall or things like that."

Rock Steady Boxing tests him and pushes him.

"You know where your limits are, and it definitely enables you to participate in the rest of your life more fully," said Friedlander.

It allows him to continue doing what he enjoys. He said, "Still traveling a lot and we still go golfing once in a while, so it's a matter of preserving as much of your life for as long as you can."

You can learn more about Rock Steady Boxing and MAPS here.

Funding concerns

Funding for Parkinson's disease could be at risk. The three leading national Parkinson's advocacy organizations — The American Parkinson Disease Association, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and The Parkinson's Foundation — are urging lawmakers to increase investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Earlier this month, the White House released its budget request for fiscal year 2027. It includes a $5 billion reduction in funding for NIH, which is the largest public funder of biomedical research.

If people want to help, Kleinman suggests donating to The Parkinson's Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation or The Maryland Association for Parkinsons, which funds the Rock Steady Boxing program. He even encourages people to write to their legislators to encourage them to get the government more involved.