NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Rock Steady Boxing

After watching her mother’s journey with Parkinson’s, Jana Mentzer developed a passion for helping people affected by the disease.

“When I happened to find Rock Steady while we were living in St. Louis, I fell in love with it from the moment I walked in the gym,” said Mentzer, head coach and founder of Rock Steady Boxing-Mason City. “There were all these people, at the various stages of what my mother went through. They were having fun! They were hitting on bags to work out some frustration. They were holding a plank longer or sounding more like Rocky on the speed bag than me! They were fierce and fighting back against Parkinson’s disease.”

At that moment, Mentzer knew she wanted to be involved. When she moved to Clear Lake, she wanted to become a coach but found no such program existed in the area. Recognizing the need for one in North Iowa, she launched Rock Steady Boxing–Mason City at the Mason City Family YMCA in 2018. The program eventually outgrew the shared space and, in January 2025, Rock Steady Boxing–Mason City relocated to Southbridge Mall, 100 S. Federal Ave. (next to the indoor Principal Pavilion).

“We are a boxing and exercise program that combats the various symptoms of the disease,” she said of the non-contact boxing program. “If you are newly diagnosed, we help people know more about the disease. If you use a walker or wheelchair, we just adjust the same workout, and you can also come get a beneficial workout. When you ask our boxers, they will tell you they ultimately come to see their friends who understand the disease and don’t care if you shake or your feet are moving as they should.”

Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) was born in 2006 after its founder, Scott C. Newman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 40. Newman was determined to fight back against a disease that affects nearly one million people in the United States and more than six million people worldwide, according to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Newman started to train with his friend and former Golden Gloves boxer Vince Perez and soon found that this training was helping his symptoms to the point where his tremor was controlled and he felt “rock steady”.

Adding professional boxer Kristy Rose Follmar as the initial RSB Coach led to creating a curriculum that has grown into an international organization offering Rock Steady Boxing programs in more than 800 locations spread across every state and 14 countries.

When Mentzer’s mother was diagnosed at the age of 36, the only answer from doctors was to take pills, relax, and get your affairs in order, Mentzer said.

“Thankfully, much changed in 2003 when Dr. Jay Alberts (an Iowan) discovered a key finding while riding RAGBRAI,” she said. “He discovered that RAGBRAI and the subsequent studies at the Cleveland Clinic where Dr. Alberts is a leading researcher realized that exercise was critical to slowing down Parkinson’s symptoms. That changed the game! Rock Steady Boxing was thus born in 2006 in Indianapolis with what was showing the highest promise. Traditional boxers train by working on balance, agility, eye/hand coordination, strength, upper and lower body fitness, and using motions that cross the body’s center line. All of those elements are what people with Parkinson’s need.”

Mentzer wants people who are living with Parkinson’s to know that there is scientific research behind the benefits of RSB, that no one is hitting anyone, and that the classes are fun.

“After a warmup of stretching and socialization, we spend about half the class doing traditional boxing workout drills: hitting on heavy bags, working on footwork that maximizes our balance, and working on our speed bag skills,” Mentzer said. “The other half of the workout is exercises that combat symptoms someone with Parkinson’s could face. Those could be strength exercises with weights, more cardio drills, and items that work dexterity, balance, and cognition. Each workout is different as we want people to be surprised by what is on the board for the day and have fun at the gym, so it’s not a chore to get exercise.”

Anyone can do it, she said. “I’ve coached a guy who was 96 and in a wheelchair in Rock Steady. We’ve had people in their 30s in our classes and people in their 80s. Anyone can do it and we will modify exercises for anyone’s current health situation or even how that day feels for them.”

Mentzer said she sees the boxers benefit from the program and believes the coaches and volunteers benefit just as much or more from the classes.

“Every day as I leave the gym, I consider myself the luckiest person to have a chance to hang out with these awesome people, be inspired by all of the efforts they put into a workout, and ultimately laugh at today’s joke told or story shared.”

For more information about Rock Steady Boxing-Mason City, call Mentzer at (314) 240-0862, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/RSBMasonCity or rocksteadyboxing.org.