They’ve got their guard up and are ready to jab over at Rock Steady Boxing. The moves are the same, with hooks and uppercuts, but the workout packs an extra punch.

Cindy Menard started the Hamburg gym three years ago after training a woman battling Parkinson's disease.

"Every once in a while, we would have training sessions and at the end of them, she said how good she felt," Menard recalled.

That got Menard to thinking.

"Lead my curiosity into looking into it and that's when I found Rock Steady Boxing," Menard explained. 

  • Rock Steady Boxing helps people fighting Parkinson's diesease 
  • There are seven classes a week at the Southwestern Boulevard location in Hamburg 
  • Classes help with balance, hand-eye coordination, cardio and self-esteem 

Menard now offers seven classes a week to men and women battling the chronic and sometimes debilitating disease.

"It's the high-intensity force exercise that is neuro-protective," Menard said. "It helps slow down the progression or, sometimes, it takes away the symptoms they already have."

Menard said most people associate Parkinson's with tremors, but there are at least 22 different symptoms. That means each boxer’s experience is different.

The workout they go through together, however, is the same: 50 percent boxing and 50 percent teamwork.

"The camaraderie of sharing the same disability with people," said Hank Dowski of East Amherst.

Depression is something Parkinson's patients struggle with as well. But here, Dowski said the blues are sweated away.

"It's a battle, but what's at the end of it is worth it," Dowski smiled.

He has a message to anyone battling Parkinson's or any obstacle standing in their way: "Get up and get out of bed and do something," Dowski said.

"There is hope and they don't have to feel like they are battling this disease alone," Menard said. "There are other people out there."