Gyms: Are they accessible to all?

Manchester personal trainer, Javeno McLean, offers free PT sessions for disabled people as he believes it is a 'beautiful sight'.

The Community Health Centre in North Manchester called J7 aims to gives the public the tools to help achieve happiness and improve its members quality of life.

Javeno has been training people with accessibility needs for over 22 years.

One of his clients, Josh Coy has cerebral palsy. The PT describes him as his gym "little brother" and he has been training at J7 for 3 years because it “doesn’t feel like a chore or a necessity.”

Are all the accessible gyms in the UK registered on the map?

Photo from Javeno

Disabled people face a lot of stigmas when it comes to physical activity. "People are scared, people are petrified, there is one million gyms that I know, that will see people in a wheelchair, with dementia or cancer and they are petrified.” [to train them] McLean said.

Javeno isn’t “scared” to ask his clients the general questions that anyone should ask before a PT session for example, what medicine they are on or what they can and can’t do.

“I am asking genuinely, so we can create something amazing that we can smash."
Javeno McLean - Personal Trainer

The average cost of a personal training session [in Manchester] starts at £30. McLean believes that some people “chase money.” He said he is genuine and to help someone with the “purest part of your soul, money cannot fit into the question.”

He told us that J7 trains on average 25 people a week, that is at least £750 that he is willing to miss out on just to “make people laugh and smile” and he tries "to show beauty in its purest form, real, genuine, honest human interactions that makes people instantly have a better day."

The owner’s devotion and love for his clients shows through his work. He said, “a six pack doesn’t mean nothing to me, muscles don’t impress me what does, is when I see people now have the confidence to attack life and enjoy life, who have realised that their disability or wheelchair will never define them and when I see people thriving at life trying new things meeting new people.”

“Life would have been harder and not as uplifting.”
Joshua Coy - 27

Josh said that training with the team at J7 has given him confidence to do his hobbies such as baking outside of the gym.

Photo by Grace Wheeler

Photo by Grace Wheeler

One of the exercise specialist's aims, is to make people feel noticed. Josh told us how training with J7 gyms feels: “It feels wonderful, I love how small it is. A lot of big facilities can be very overwhelming, it’s a lot more comforting which makes it easier, it is less daunting.”

Josh's story

Javeno indicated that he has had a lot of interest from people around the world who want to do the same thing as him [free PT sessions for disabled people]. He told us that he didn't start his services 22 years ago for the likes and followers.

Javeno shares his clients' journeys on his social media...

Photo from Javeno

'Only four in 10 (41%) disabled people feel they have the opportunity to be as active as they want to be, compared to 70% of non-disabled people.'

Statistic from Annual Disability and Activity Survey

"I enjoy keeping fit. However, when I want to go to the gym I find that many are not accessible. I'm not able to use the weight machines because the seats don't move out of the way. Some gyms don't even have lift access." - Mathew.

In the future...

“I hope people open there eyes and see real beauty! I hope gyms and establishments around the world understand the power of care and the power of treating people normal.”
Javeno McLean - J7

It is not uncommon for PT's adapt sessions to cater to their clients needs.

"I’ve worked with lots of different people where I’ve had to adapt. I’ve not seen many gyms where they fully cater to disabled people, so more access around/in the gym, lifts or ramps, changing rooms could also be more accessible so 100% more could be done."
James Littlemore - Cheshire Personal Trainer

With the number of registered accessible gyms still standing at 67, can initiatives like the Activity Alliance and the upcoming Paralympics increase the number of gyms like J7 in the future?