Official Rock Steady Boxing® affiliateRock Steady Boxing® Thousand Oaks
On Newbury Road in Thousand Oaks, this gym brings the official Rock Steady Boxing® curriculum to the Conejo Valley — so members from the Ventura County side don't have to drive over the hill to fight back against Parkinson's.
1714 Newbury Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
Completely new to this? The 60-second version
Rock Steady Boxing® is a non-contact boxing fitness program built specifically for people with Parkinson's disease — nobody spars, nobody gets hit, and a growing body of research supports it. Here's the full plain-English explanation.
It fits every stage — newly diagnosed to advanced, standing or seated, no boxing experience expected. An honest look at who it's for, and exactly what a first class is like.
Your first class here is free. After that, here's how pricing honestly works. Just diagnosed and overwhelmed? Start with these guides — nothing has to happen today.
Who trains here
Your neighborhood gym for fighting Parkinson's
For Conejo Valley and Ventura County families, this location is the difference between training weekly and not training at all — no canyon drive, no freeway marathon. It's minutes off the 101 at Wendy Drive, and the class community here is tight-knit in the way smaller-town gyms get to be.
Members regularly train here from:
- Thousand Oaks
- Westlake Village
- Newbury Park
- Agoura Hills
- Oak Park
- Moorpark
- Camarillo
What a class looks like
Real boxing training, zero contact
- Warm-up and mobility work to start every session
- Balance, footwork, and coordination drills
- Non-contact boxing combinations on pads and bags
- Strength, conditioning, and big-movement training
- Cool-down — and more laughing than you'd expect
Every exercise can be modified or done seated. All stages of Parkinson's are welcome, no boxing experience needed, and gloves are provided. Here's what a first day feels like.
Why this works
Boxing training, aimed straight at Parkinson's
Conejo Valley members fought the longest for a program like this to exist on their side of the hill. Now that it's here, this is what the training is actually doing for them.
Each part of the curriculum targets something Parkinson's attacks — and a 2025 systematic review of boxing exercise for Parkinson's found improvements in both motor and non-motor symptoms, with strong safety and notably high adherence.
- Amplitude training — big, exaggerated punches and steps counter the small, shuffling movements Parkinson's causes
- Footwork and stance drills — balance practice disguised as boxing, aimed at fall prevention
- Rhythm and timing work — combinations on pads train motor planning and coordination
- Dual-task training — moving while counting out loud strengthens the brain-body connection and the voice at once
- Community — a room that knows your name, which matters more with Parkinson's than most people realize
The Parkinson's Foundation recommends at least 2.5 hours of exercise per week for people with PD. Two or three classes here, plus simple practice at home, gets you there.
As seen on HBO
This is the program we teach in Thousand Oaks
HBO's The Fight Game profiled Rock Steady Boxing® at its Indianapolis headquarters — founder Scott Newman's story, the science of "forced intense exercise," and boxers taking their fight back. It's the same curriculum Coach Dean teaches here in Thousand Oaks.
Getting started
Four steps, one free class
- 01Clear it with your doctor. This is real exercise, and your medical team should know you're starting — nearly everyone gets an enthusiastic green light.
- 02Call or text 747-234-1115. We'll match you to the right class time — most members do best training during their medication "on" window.
- 03Show up in comfortable clothes and supportive shoes. Bring water. Gloves and equipment are provided for your first class — here's exactly what to expect.
- 04Take the free class. No cost, no commitment, no experience needed. Then decide with real information — here's how pricing works.
For care partners
Bring your corner with you
Care partners are welcome in every class at this location — to watch, to help, or to put gloves on and train alongside their fighter. More than a few of the best boxers in my gyms came in as "just the driver."
Every stage of Parkinson's trains here, seated or standing — here's my honest answer on who this fits — and seated boxing is a real workout, not a consolation prize.
If you're the one doing the caring, my Caregiver's Corner keeps a verified list of helplines, respite resources, and local services for exactly your side of this fight.
Good to know
Before your first visit
When should I schedule around my medication?
What if I'm having a bad day?
Do people really come from Camarillo and Simi Valley?
How do I find the gym from the 101?
Notes from Coach Dean
Why members choose Thousand Oaks
Ventura County families have historically gotten the short end of specialized Parkinson's programming — most of it concentrates over the hill in LA. This gym exists to fix that. The Conejo Valley community that's grown here is the tightest-knit of my four locations, the kind where members notice an absence by Tuesday and somebody's checking in by Wednesday. In a fight where isolation is a genuine enemy, that noticing is worth as much as the boxing.
There's a particular relief I see in new Thousand Oaks members: the discovery that they don't have to earn specialized Parkinson's training with a ninety-minute round trip anymore. That drive was never just inconvenient — for someone managing medication windows and fatigue, it was often the difference between training and not. With the gym minutes off the 101 at Wendy Drive, members from Westlake Village, Newbury Park, and Agoura Hills can build a real weekly rhythm — and the Camarillo and Moorpark contingent proves people will still happily drive for the right room, just a much shorter distance.
Have questions before you visit — about cost, stages, what to wear, whether it's safe for your situation? The honest answers live in my guides to how pricing works, who this program fits, and exactly what a first class looks like — or skip the reading and call 747-234-1115. A phone call with a coach beats an hour of googling every time.
You won't fight alone
What boxers say this program gave back
From Rock Steady Boxing®'s own cameras: members on the day the doctor said "no cure," the day they found the gym, and everything that changed after — "we are now a family. We really are a family."
So there's no confusion
What's Rock Steady Boxing® here — and what isn't
The in-gym classes at this location are the licensed Rock Steady Boxing® program — Rock Steady Boxing® Thousand Oaks is an official affiliate of Rock Steady Boxing, Inc., running the official curriculum.
Coach Dean also runs Boxing for Balance, his own separate program — the online video program, assisted living classes, private training, and coach certification course. Those are Boxing for Balance programs, not Rock Steady Boxing® programs. Same coach and philosophy either way — but only the gym classes here carry the Rock Steady Boxing® name.
Rock Steady Boxing® is a registered trademark of Rock Steady Boxing, Inc. All four affiliate locations: Santa Monica · Lake Balboa · Woodland Hills · Thousand Oaks — or see the Rock Steady Boxing hub page.