People who make a difference – Kari Merrill

Heather Graves

Staff

February 24, 2023

pRS8exj-0csGREEN BAY – Little did Kari Merrill – a former corrections officer and current group exercise director at Western Racquet & Fitness Club – know, her shift in careers more than a decade ago would impact the lives of dozens, while at the same time honoring her grandfather’s legacy.

Merrill – who is credited for starting Rock Steady Boxing (RSB), a non-contact fitness program designed specifically for people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), to the Green Bay area – said though she didn’t know it at the time, her grandfather’s struggles with PD 30 years ago has inspired her to help others living with the disease.

“My grandfather had Parkinson’s, but that was 30-plus years ago,” she said. “I was in my early 20s, and I didn’t really know what Parkinson’s was.”

Research has shown that for those living with Parkinson’s – a neurodegenerative brain disorder – keeping the body moving can help improve balance, flexibility and inflammation – all of which Merrill said are known to help improve the quality of life for those living with the disease.

“They didn’t have the research and the science backing the fact you need to move your body and exercise to help delay the progression and help you with your symptoms of Parkinson’s when my grandfather was diagnosed,” she said. “Now that I know what I know now, of course, I would love to go back and be able to understand what my grandpa was going through to help him. I obviously can’t, so this was a great way for me to keep his legacy alive.”

According to a 2022 Parkinson’s Foundation-backed study, nearly 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the U.S. each year.

The foundation estimates nearly a million Americans are living with Parkinson’s disease – which is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030.

Parkinson’s is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease.

A winding path
Merrill said her love of fitness started many decades ago when she began taking group fitness classes as an outlet from her job as a corrections officer.

Taking classes eventually led to teaching.

“I fell in love with fitness, and I decided I wanted to enter into that world a little bit and teach some classes because working at a jail can become pretty cynical,” she said. “You need an outlet for being in that environment.”

Kari Merrill

Merrill said she knew she wanted to help people, but was unsure at that time what that meant.

“I wasn’t quite feeling that fulfillment at the jail as much as I thought,” she said. “So, I thought, ‘I’m going to take some group fitness classes,’ which led to personal training in people’s homes, and I fell in love with all things fitness.”

As time went on, Merrill said she began balancing her work as a corrections officer with her part-time fitness instructor gig.
“I was diving myself into all elements of the fitness industry – going to certifications, going to conferences and teaching everything I could,” she said. “Every spare moment I had, I would teach classes.”

Fast forward 13 years into her career at the jail, Merrill said she realized pursuing a career in the fitness industry was the path she was meant to take.

“So, I took a leap of faith and quit my full-time, county jail job and jumped into working in the fitness industry, part-time to start,” she said.

Merrill started working at Western Racket, which was undergoing renovations.

“We wanted to grow through fitness and build more studio space,” she said. “The first two or three years I was there, I was able to grow that department from (around) 20 classes a week to up to 60-70 currently, and we’ve almost tripled the staff.”

Rock Steady
About six years ago, Merrill said she was approached by Western’s health partner – Prevea Health – about starting Rock Steady Boxing.

She said Prevea introduced her to a married couple who had raised money in an effort to start an RSB program in Green Bay.
“(The husband) had Parkinson’s and they would go to Florida, and he would do Rock Steady Boxing there,” she said.

Merrill said RSB has about 900 affiliates throughout the world, and at the time, there were maybe three or four in Wisconsin, all of which were south of Milwaukee.

“They noticed when he was taking Rock Steady Boxing in Florida, he was seeing great results,” she said. “He felt like (the advancement of his) Parkinson’s was settled and felt he wasn’t progressing in this disease. And then they come back to Green Bay and he would go backward.”

Merrill said the couple believed in the program so much they raised money, started a foundation and connected with Prevea.

“Then they came to me, and I probably said ‘yes,’ faster than anything in my life,” she said. “I got certified five years ago, and we started Rock Steady Boxing – it’ll be five years in April.”

Merrill said the program started with her and another coach with eight participants.

“Fast forward five years later, I have three other certified coaches – Katie, Sara and Becky – and we run a program with 25-plus people with Parkinson’s,” she said. “It’s an all-level program – whether you have early onset, we have somebody who’s 89 years old, we have people who’ve been diagnosed for more than 20 years, we have people who were diagnosed last week. We teach them all the same class, the same intensity and we are able to modify and make sure everybody gets what they need out of class.”

Merrill said the class focuses on everything Parkinson’s can affect because it affects people in different ways.

“We work on movement, balance, hand-eye coordination, cognitive exercises, handwriting, voice, core strength and we get them on/off the floor,” she said. “We also teach assisted living, so their caregivers can come in and we teach them how they can safely get each other off the ground.”

Kari Merrill, right, said the community that has been built through Rock Steady Boxing is more than she could have ever imagined. Submitted Photo

Merrill said though the premise of the group focuses on exercise, it has led to the building of an “amazing community.”

“We turn up the music, we act silly, dance, have fun, laugh and have our inside jokes,” she said. “We’ve built a family that they’ve also become friends outside of class. And we also hang out outside of class. So, it’s built an amazing community around it.”

Inspired
Merrill said she believes she said “yes” so quickly when she was asked to start RSB because of her grandfather.

“This was something that not only spoke to my heart because of my grandfather, but it was a population of people that (needed me),” she said. “I mean, it’s snowing today, and they are making it to the gym. It is a full-time job for them to fight this disease.”
Merrill said her entire fitness journey has centered around having fun – but RSB was different.

“My whole fitness career was about providing this fun, fitness environment and making people fall in love with the journey and the process of working out – getting sweaty and cranking the music,” she said. “I did that for so many years, and I loved it and still love it. But I never tackled a population that needed me – needed this to live an independent functional life.”

Merrill said challenging herself in a different realm, learning how to modify exercises for PD clients and being able to dive in and learn all about the disease and how she can help them was “really intriguing to me.”

“If I can do anything for 75 minutes of their day to not only make them smile, laugh and be around people that completely get it, and, ‘oh hey, by the way, I can help you lead a more independent functional life’ – that is a game changer for me,” she said.

When she started RSB five years ago, Merrill said she never imagined it would have such an impact on her life.

“I had no idea how blessed and lucky I would feel to be in their life,” she said. “I had no idea that I would, years later, have such a tight-knit amazing family of coaches, volunteers and people with Parkinson’s in their families. I don’t have a lot of words for it because it’s absolutely amazing.”

Merrill said each day she is inspired by those in her classes.

“You’re watching these people who are struggling daily to move, pushing sleds, hitting a heavy bag and doing push-ups and planks and squats,” she said. “They’re doing all the things and they never complained. They never said no. They never say I can’t do that. To see this group of people fight (is inspiring).”

Merrill said she is one who believes that if you have a gift or passion – “you need to share it.”

“You need to use your gift to give back and help someone have a better day,” she said. “I think it’s important to provide your different talents and services to other people – and then it’s a domino effect. With RSB, all we want to do is make participants smile, laugh, sing, dance and give them a safe place for 75 minutes.”

Those interested in RSB can reach out to Western Racquet & Fitness Club for more information.