Rock Steady Boxing<\/a> program became well-known for helping people with the disease, a few people asked Havas to teach boxing for Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018I don\u2019t know anything about boxing, but I\u2019ll learn,\u201d she said. After a year of helping her clients with Parkinson\u2019s, she decided to start the Parkinson\u2019s Warriors Gym.<\/p>\n
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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation 6\n <\/p>\n
While rotating through stations, Tom Hooker practices using the speed bag during a Parkinson’s Warrior workout class on Aug. 12, 2025.<\/p>\n
Gabriella Sgro \/ KLCC <\/p>\n
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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation 2\n <\/p>\n
At the opening of the workout class, Lori Havas, founder and executive director of the Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation, leads the group through a series of stretches. <\/p>\n
Gabriella Sgro \/ KLCC <\/p>\n
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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation 4\n <\/p>\n
Before the boxing portion of the class begins, stations are set up around the gym to practice exercising different mental and physical skills. Pictured on Aug. 12, 2025. <\/p>\n
Gabriella Sgro \/ KLCC <\/p>\n
\n 4 of 4
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation 5\n <\/p>\n
Bob Campbell, left, and Don Cross, right, use small PVC tubes to stretch at the end of the class on Aug. 12, 2025. <\/p>\n
Gabriella Sgro \/ KLCC <\/p>\n
This summer, Havas took on two interns from the University of Oregon\u2019s Human Physiology department, who help set up each day, and provide one-on-one help for warriors.<\/p>\n
Kaya Bentel and Christina Johannesen, both rising seniors at the university, said the most rewarding part is the gratitude the warriors show.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, I was working with someone for a lot of the time, and he is always like, \u2018Thanks, Christina. It means a lot having you here. It makes a difference,’\u201d Johannesen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s so special here, the community coming in every day. They want to talk to you, they want to hear about your life, and you want to hear about their life,\u201d Bentel said. \u201cYou can see it on all their faces, how every day they’re excited. Sometimes they’re a little bit tired, but they’re excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2018, Havas has seen much success from the gym, both with its growth in membership and staff, and the individual success of each warrior.<\/p>\n
When Billy Safier was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s, he did Tai Chi, which helped him regain balance. But he said the gym helped him in many other ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is whole body, whole mind, plus a community,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are times that I\u2019ll come three times a week. It\u2019s just a good overall body experience. (It) makes up for some of the things that I can\u2019t do anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Havas makes sure to include exercises that challenge the warriors physically and mentally, while reminding them of the importance of each movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember the reason why we\u2019re doing this,\u201d she told the class during a 30-second set of jumping jacks. \u201cWe\u2019re doing this to trigger our brain, to get stronger, to build stronger mitochondria in every cell of our body.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she explains the benefits of the exercise, Havas also pushes the class on with an intermittent \u201cYou got this!\u201d or \u201cCan you feel it working?\u201d<\/p>\n
Don Cross said it\u2019s Havas\u2019 attitude, as well as the movement, that has kept him going after his diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Cross remembered being diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s in 2016, when his neurologist told him, \u201cYou have Parkinson\u2019s and there\u2019s no cure.\u201d Struggling to be optimistic about life with the disease, Cross said he fell into a bout of depression.<\/p>\n
Then, three years ago, he found the Parkinson\u2019s Warriors Gym.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe most importantly is the social contact I made with these people, and they\u2019ve become my friends over the years,\u201d Cross said about his classmates. \u201cWe all struggle sometimes, and we look at one another and see, there\u2019s Kathy doing it, I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an unspoken understanding in the class because everyone is dealing with the same condition, although it affects them all in different ways.<\/p>\n
Safier said they don\u2019t have to ask each other, \u201cWhat\u2019s your condition?\u201d Only, \u201cWhat condition is your condition in?\u201d<\/p>\n
For Safier, the condition affected his stamina and balance. For Cross, the challenge was walking.<\/p>\n
When he joined the gym three years ago, Cross struggled to walk more than eight steps without freezing. With Havas\u2019 help and the support of his classmates, he\u2019s now up to 12.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755361272_826_\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The back of each shirt sold by the Parkinson’s Warrior Foundation reads “Knocking Out Parkinson’s Disease 1 (punch) At A Time.” <\/p>\n
But Safier and Cross\u2019 favorite exercise at the gym is boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to take out my anxiety on the bag,\u201d Safier said. Havas said some warriors told her, \u201cIt\u2019s like I\u2019m punching Parkinson\u2019s right out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boxing provides a kind of empowerment for the warriors that other exercises might not \u2013 a cathartic opportunity to (literally) fight against the symptoms of Parkinson’s. Havas has seen how members of the gym become taller and stronger as they hit the bags harder. Havas said watching the warriors\u2019 progress has made it easier for her to show up to work every day. She knows how challenging it can be for the warriors to come to class on their harder days. But, she said, they still show up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people come in and they want to work so hard, they want to work because they know it’s saving their life as it is right now. They come in with determination. They come in knowing I’m going to push them, even though it might be hard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd people with Parkinson’s very often get the masked faces where they’re happy inside their body, but you’d never know it, because they’re not smiling. To see somebody look up and smile at me is enough to make me keep going. I just\u2013I love these people. I love them so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
More details on Saturday\u2019s grand opening and the Oregon Parkinson\u2019s Warriors Foundation can be found at the foundation’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a warehouse in west Eugene, Lori B. Havas began her second workout class of the day with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-71539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}