ROUGH SEAS MAKE GOOD SAILORS
Row House co-founder Eric Von Frohlich on finding purpose after his Parkinson’s diagnosis and why the fitness industry is key to helping those with the disease lead more fulfilling lives.
BY JIM SCHMALTZ
Eric Von Frohlich has spent more than four decades building fitness businesses, from a martial-arts-fueled personal training practice in New York City to EVF Performance and, later, the franchise Row House, which he and his wife, Debra Strougo, sold to Xponential Fitness in 2017.
Von Frohlich built his reputation on discipline and the belief that movement changes lives. Then a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2021 challenged every assumption he had about strength. After decades as a coach, entrepreneur, and martial artist, Von Frohlich initially responded the way many high achievers do: He tried to solve the problem alone. It didn’t work out.
The turnaround began with an acknowledgement that a support team is essential to coping with the disease and helping him stay active—both elements you can find in any gym.
Today, Von Frohlich advocates for a broader understanding of what fitness facilities can mean to people living with chronic conditions. He shares what he has learned with a wider audience through his podcast, Parkinson’s: An Athlete’s Journey, co-hosted by Todd Vogt, a Paralympic silver medalist also living with Parkinson’s. Von Frohlich serves on the board of Rock Steady Boxing, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that offers a non-contact, boxing-based fitness curriculum to Parkinson’s patients.
HFB spoke with Von Frohlich to talk about the hard lessons of his diagnosis and why he believes staying active isn’t just helpful for managing Parkinson’s, it’s central to how people live with it.
What got you involved in fitness?
I was sitting on my grandmother’s floor around 1971 watching Jack LaLanne on TV doing dips between two stools, pushups, jumping jacks—things I’d never seen before. He was positive, he was enlightened, and he clearly had his finger on something people needed. I locked into that moment, and from then on, I always knew I’d be involved in fitness on some level.
What was your career like before Row House?
I was deep into martial arts, so group teaching and group exercise were already a natural part of my life. I moved into personal training and group exercise early, had some success, and built a client base that ran from New York City out to the Hamptons and Greenwich, Connecticut. Row House came later, in 2014, when Debra and I set out to make rowing accessible to everyone, whether you were brand-new to fitness or an Olympic-level rower looking for a place to train.
In 2021, everything shifted with your Parkinson’s diagnosis. What went through your mind at first?
When I first got into fitness, it was to scratch my own itch—something that interested me—and helping people came along with it. So when I got diagnosed, I figured there had to be some purpose in it, and that I could share the experience the way I’d shared everything else in my life, which was built around overcoming adversity. I trained hard, I was a focused athlete, and it made sense that other people were struggling with the same questions I was: When to lean on people, when to ask for support, when to bring exercise back into the picture.
Did you reach out to a community right away, or was that something that came later?
Initially, I made the mistake everyone makes—I figured I’d keep it to myself and outpace it with my routine and my lifestyle. But psychologically, I lone-wolfed it instead of reaching out. About six months after the diagnosis, I had a back injury that stopped me from exercising altogether. I couldn’t even walk around the block. I went from a lifestyle that was actively slowing the progression to not being able to move at all, and that’s when depression and apathy set in. Not having agency, not being able to take control the way I wanted to, that was the hardest stretch.
What pulled you out of that?
There’s an old line—when you’re going through hell, keep moving forward—that stuck with me. Once my back healed enough that I could move again, I started asking myself if I was living the life I was built to live. I had a five-year-old, a nine-year-old, and a 17-year-old at the time, and my two younger kids were getting a very different, truncated version of who I was compared to what my oldest had known. That’s what lit the fuse.
I also realized the strain it was putting on my marriage. I didn’t want Debra to be my caretaker. So we had an honest conversation, and I went looking for a bigger support system instead of leaning on her alone. I got back into pickleball, back into jiu-jitsu, got a dog that had me out walking four times a day and talking to people. It turned out there was a lot of support around me the whole time—I was a thirsty man standing in the middle of a river.
Strougo
Von Frohlich and Strougo after the Row House sale to Xponential.
Vogt
“If the industry keeps opening up the way it has, keeps making room for people dealing with conditions like this, it changes what’s possible for a lot of people who assume their training days are behind them.”
• Eric Von Frohlich
How important is building a team instead of going it alone?
It’s everything. This isn’t a single-person sport, it’s a team sport, and you’re only as strong as the people around you. Having people who remind you what your goals are and push you to be the best version of yourself is paramount. And people can’t help you if they don’t know what’s going on—so sharing the story is part of the work, not separate from it.
What led you to start the podcast, and what are you hoping listeners take from it?
It’s about how the way an athlete approaches Parkinson’s is the same way you’d approach any other goal or event. I co-host it with a former Paralympic rower who won silver in Paris—we met through Rock Steady Boxing, where I’m on the board, and it turned out we had a lot of overlapping experience.
Every episode, we’re looking for people with interesting stories about how they’re maintaining or even expanding their lives because of Parkinson’s, not despite it. There’s a version of this where you almost look at it as a gift, because of the relationships you build and what you learn along the way. Rough seas make good sailors—it’s hard to build character without adversity.
What misconceptions about Parkinson’s do you run into most often?
That it’s an old person’s disease. I call Parkinson’s an accelerated aging process—you wake up one day with this problem, and it starts showing up symptomatically with balance issues, brain fog, slow and restricted movement—all the things we associate with old age. But there’s a real early-onset population and it matters that we reach them, because the sooner you intervene by moving and eating in a way that supports your body, the more of a difference it makes. It also buys you time to work through the spiritual and philosophical side of overcoming what you’re dealing with.
What kinds of physical activity have actually made a difference for you and for the people you talk to?
You have to find what works for your own restrictions. I went back to jiu-jitsu, which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend to everyone, but having someone actively trying to keep me pinned made the simple act of sitting on the floor feel a lot more manageable by comparison. Pickleball has been wonderful for the social side of it, being around mixed groups of people, young and old, athletic and not, in a lighthearted setting. Walking is invaluable—it’s transportation, but it’s also where I find quiet and get to sit with the bigger questions. Swimming works well for a lot of people, depending on how their symptoms are presenting. And something like Rock Steady Boxing touches on nearly everything at once—balance, hand-eye coordination, cardio, strength. There’s something out there for everyone, and finding it isn’t optional. It’s the biggest factor I’ve found in how this disease plays out day to day.
What would you say to someone in the fitness industry about how to think about people facing something like this?
Get the word out. That’s the next best thing to solving the diagnosis outright. The people I’ve met with Parkinson’s, including plenty of athletes, are some of the most resilient people I know—not the frail, old-person stereotype people default to. If the industry keeps opening up the way it has, keeps making room for people dealing with conditions like this, it changes what’s possible for a lot of people who assume their training days are behind them.
Giving Power Back to Parkinson’s Patients
The Power with Parkinson's program at Genesis Health Clubs demonstrates how fitness facilities can serve members with chronic disease through specialized programming. It was begun in 2020 as a passion project by Tammy Dunseath, club manager at Genesis Health Clubs Spanish Springs, Florida, and group exercise manager for Genesis Health Clubs Spanish Springs and Brownwood, Florida in the Villages community.
“At that time, I was primarily a personal trainer working with people with Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, limb loss, and more, so adaptive fitness was my specialty,” Dunseath explains. “As I got more referrals, I decided to bring together all my education and training under one umbrella to create a group program that could reach more people.”
To accommodate varying abilities, Power with Parkinson’s includes three versions:
• Accelerated: For recently diagnosed or slow progression patients;
• Steady: For people who can stand but may prefer to hold on to something for balance; and
• Assisted: For people who use wheelchairs, walkers, or canes and feel more comfortable seated.
Dunseath
An Evidence-Based Approach
Classes incorporate shadow and contact boxing, big movements, core exercises, balance, and posture work. Research suggests that boxing-based exercise can improve balance, gait, mobility, and quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease. Scientists also believe vigorous exercise may promote neuroplasticity, helping the brain adapt to the disease.
“With the choreography, combinations, impact, and sensory input, boxing is one of the best options for people with Parkinson’s,” Dunseath explains. “We include a big cardio push to make sure people get their heart rate up and drive more oxygen and BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor) to their brains.”
Sessions, which are currently held at Genesis’ Spanish Springs and Brownwood locations, are led by Dunseath and select personal trainers who have at least one Parkinson’s disease certification. Dunseath is a MedFit Parkinson’s Disease Exercise Specialist, a Strong Over Fifty Parkinson’s Exercise Specialist, and an Applied Movement Neurology Specialist, among holding multiple other certifications.
Open to Genesis Health Clubs members for free or a nominal fee, the program has grown from 25 people to 125 today, with attendance nearly doubling during the winter months as seasonal residents return to Florida. Classes are offered several times each week, and participants can stay indefinitely.
"We encourage people to take other classes at the gym, and we plug them [in] individually where they can excel, such as Tai Chi, balance, or shadow boxing, so they’re doing more than just a few sessions every week," Dunseath says.
Power with Parkinson's has three levels for those of different abilities.
Genesis hopes to expand the Power with Parkinson's program to other facilities.
Parkinson's patients have responded well to movements based on boxing techniques.
Making an Impact
Dunseath calls participants a wonderful addition to any health club. “The Parkinson’s population is extremely passionate because they’re fighting for something—and they have hope. They’re inspiring for everyone at the gym who brushes shoulders with them.”
Beyond attracting members and building community, Power with Parkinson’s is transforming lives, according to Dunseath. Among some of the many stories she’s witnessed:
• Mary lost her balance regularly, couldn’t get on the ground, and struggled with everyday activities due to stiffness and weakness. After a few months, she regained enough strength and mobility to return to gardening—and even started running.
• Discouraged and in pain, Tony didn't like leaving the house. After joining Power with Parkinson's, he made new friends, looked forward to classes, and began walking on days he wasn’t at the gym.
• Craig didn't tell anyone he had Parkinson's because he didn’t want his friends to treat him differently. A year ago, he joined the program and believes exercise is keeping symptoms at bay.
The Parkinson’s Foundation reports that annual US diagnoses have jumped nearly 50% to almost 90,000 per year from 2012 to 2022. Plus, the aging population and longer life expectancy will contribute to increased incidence over time.
Fitness facilities can respond by licensing established programs such as Rock Steady Boxing or Pedaling for Parkinson's—or, as Genesis has done, developing their own evidence-based program. With either avenue, networking and building relationships with local healthcare systems and community resources are critical to program success.
“Clubs first must find someone passionate about helping people with Parkinson’s or adaptive needs,” Dunseath recommends. “This person needs to be energetic and empathetic as well. Participants can tell if you really care or not.”
Given the success of its Power with Parkinson’s program, Genesis Health Clubs is planning to extend its reach by becoming an affiliate of the Rock Steady Boxing program to make it available at all its locations.
“Power with Parkinson’s is just the name of our program, but if we can reach more people with Rock Steady Boxing throughout all our gyms, that’s great,” she adds. “I don’t have an ego in the game.”
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Health & Fitness Business (HFB) is the leading health and fitness industry publication. Published monthly by the Health & Fitness Association (HFA) and distributed free to the industry, HFB offers analysis of the opportunities, challenges, issues, and news that impact the industry.
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