It was only his second HYROX race ever, and his first attempt at Worlds.

If you know Tom, that kind of debut probably doesn’t surprise you. He’s a former U.S. Paralympic swimmer. A five-time Games champion. A five-time Wodapalooza champion.

👉 Annnnnnnnd, he has never finished worse than first in any competition.

Now “HYROX World Champion” joins that list too.

A Quick Primer on HYROX

For anyone new to the sport: HYROX is a race that alternates running with functional work stations, things like sled pushes, rowing, wall balls, and farmer’s carries, all inside one continuous event.

HYROX also runs an Adaptive division for athletes with permanent physical impairments. Seated athletes like Tom compete within specific categories based on their function. Tom races in the Seated With Hip Function division.

At Worlds, he lined up alongside two other athletes in that exact category, as part of a full field of adaptive men racing the same course together. That kind of head-to-head field is rare in adaptive sport, and Tom loved every second of it.

A Course Full of Curveballs

Tom’s only other HYROX was a qualifier in Dallas, raced on smooth, even concrete. Stockholm was nothing like that.

The surface was rough road and gravel. The rowing setup was completely different from anything he’d trained on, and he had to solve his stroke mid-race with his heart rate already climbing toward 190. Even the burpee broad jump standards changed.

None of it slowed him down. Tom shaved nearly 100 seconds off his qualifying time and finished strongest of the field, laying down his two fastest splits in the final stretch of the race.

The Winning Mindset

Ask Tom where that composure comes from, and he doesn’t hesitate.

“The best athletes figure a way out,” he said. “That’s how life comes to you as an adaptive athlete. A lot of hurdles come your way, and you have to figure it out on the fly.”

He calls it an adapt-or-die mentality, built from a lifetime of solving problems most people never have to think about, from an unexpected snowstorm to a rowing machine that wouldn’t cooperate 40 minutes into a world championship.

“I want to know that I’m super hard to kill,” he said. “That I can handle any situation, and adapt on the fly.”

That belief, he says, traces back to his family always telling him “yes, you can.” Stockholm was just the latest proof.

He’s Just Getting Started

For most athletes, a HYROX World Championship would be the highlight of a career. For Tom, it’s another line on an already stacked resume.

Up next: this summer’s CrossFit Games (July 23-26), followed by his first Ironman a few weeks later, and the New York City Marathon this fall.

The Impact Behind the Medals

Medals are only half the Tom Miazga story. The other half happens off the podium, as a member of ATA’s Seminar Staff.

Tom travels the country and the world teaching coaches, gym owners, and therapists how to build truly inclusive fitness spaces. He brings the same technical depth and firsthand experience to a workshop that he brings to a start line.

“I’ve learned so much through Adaptive Training Academy and teaching adaptive fitness,” he said. “And I want to pass my knowledge on to the next generation of adaptive athletes.”

That’s what makes Tom’s story bigger than any single race. Every title he wins opens a door for the next adaptive athlete, and every seminar he teaches gives a coach the tools to help them walk through it.

Congratulations, Tom. The whole ATA community is proud to call you one of our own.

*You can become an adaptive fitness trainer and learn from Tom. Check out the link below to make an impact!

Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer Course

Most athletes have a peak. A season where everything comes together. A few years at the top before age, injuries, or changing priorities begin to shift their trajectory.

Tom Miazga has spent nearly two decades proving he is not most athletes.

From Paralympic swimming to CrossFit dominance and now the HYROX World Championships, Tom has built a career around a simple idea: when he reaches the top of one mountain, he finds another to climb.

Across multiple competition formats and years of elite performance, Tom has established himself as arguably the most accomplished CrossFit athlete (adaptive or non-adaptive).

And now, he is taking that pursuit of excellence onto one of the biggest stages in fitness racing: the HYROX World Championships!

The Next Challenge: HYROX

For an athlete who has already conquered swimming and CrossFit, HYROX represents another opportunity to test himself against the best in the world.

This year, Tom will compete at the PUMA HYROX World Championships in Stockholm in the Adaptive Invitational Men’s division, adding another chapter to an already extraordinary competitive career.

Unlike CrossFit, where workouts change from event to event, HYROX rewards sustained endurance, pacing, and consistency across a standardized race format. Success requires a different skill set, making the transition another test of Tom’s ability to adapt and excel at the highest level.

The event represents the pinnacle of one of the world’s fastest-growing fitness sports and brings together elite athletes from around the globe to compete for a world title. HYROX continues to expand internationally, with its World Championships serving as the highest level of competition in the sport.

A Champion Who Never Stops Evolving

What has always separated Tom isn’t simply that he wins.

It’s that he continues to seek out new challenges after already proving himself at the highest level.

A former U.S. Paralympic swimmer, Tom competed in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, racing in the 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle events. Over his swimming career, he earned:

🏊‍♂️ 8 American records
🌎 2 Pan American records
🥇13 International medals

Most athletes would consider that a complete career. For Tom, it was simply the beginning of another one: competitive CrossFit.

Since entering the sport of CrossFit, Tom has become the defining athlete of the adaptive era. Year after year, new challengers have emerged. Year after year, Tom has remained on top.

🏆 5x CrossFit Games Adaptive Division Champion (2021–2025)

From 2021 through 2025, Tom has won virtually everything there is to win. Across five consecutive CrossFit Games championships, he has finished outside of first place in only a handful of events—and when he did, he finished second.

In a sport designed to expose weaknesses, that level of consistency is almost unheard of. New athletes emerged. Programming changed. The sport evolved. Yet year after year, Tom remained the athlete everyone else was chasing.

What makes Tom remarkable isn’t simply his medal count. It’s that after reaching the top of one sport, he continues to seek out new arenas where he can test himself again.

It reflects a mindset focused less on protecting a legacy and more on pursuing growth.

At the same time, his move into HYROX represents something bigger than one athlete. It demonstrates the growing opportunities for adaptive competitors to excel across multiple sports and continue raising expectations for what is possible.

More Than an Athlete

Most people know Tom because of what he has accomplished on the competition floor.

But to many adaptive athletes and coaches, he’s also an educator, mentor, and member of ATA’s Seminar Staff who has helped thousands of professionals learn how to better serve people with disabilities.

The same discipline and humility that have defined his athletic career are evident in the classroom and on the gym floor, where he generously shares his knowledge with coaches from around the world.

As Tom steps onto the competition floor in Stockholm, he’ll be pursuing something few athletes ever achieve: a world championship in yet another sport.

For nearly twenty years, Tom has demonstrated what sustained excellence looks like. Not because he has remained in one place long enough to accumulate accolades, but because he has repeatedly chosen growth over comfort, challenging himself to start over, learn new skills, compete against the best in the world, and then help others do the same.

From the Paralympic pool, to the CrossFit competition floor, and now to the HYROX World Championships, the pattern remains the same. When Tom reaches the top of one mountain, he finds another to climb.

And we’ll be cheering him on as he begins the next ascent!

*You can tune in to watch the livestream provided by HYROX here on Sunday, June 21, Adaptive Invitational Men | 4:30pm CET, 8:30am ET

A family member had a disability. Maybe they have a disability themselves. Maybe they volunteered at an adaptive sports event. Maybe a client with Parkinson’s disease walked into their gym. Maybe a child with autism joined their program. Or maybe a wheelchair user asked for help, and they suddenly realized they didn’t know enough.

As it turns out, that pattern isn’t just anecdotal.

A recent qualitative research study1 examining the experiences of fitness professionals who completed disability-specific certifications found that every participant’s journey into adaptive fitness began with a personal connection to disability.

The adaptive fitness education wasn’t the catalyst. The human connection was.

Exposure to People with Disabilities is a Significant Life Experience

In the study, “Fitness Professionals’ Perspectives on Disability-Specific Fitness Certifications,” the researchers interviewed fitness professionals from across North America who had completed adaptive fitness certifications and explored the motivations for pursuing that education. The answer was remarkably consistent.

In every case, exposure came first, and education followed.

That shouldn’t surprise us. Most people don’t become passionate about an issue until it becomes personal. Once disability stopped being an abstract concept and became a real person with real goals, real barriers, and real aspirations, these professionals wanted to learn more. They wanted to become better coaches because they genuinely cared about the person in front of them.

For researcher Matt Lowery, PhD student at the University of Virginia, the findings also point to a bigger question: How do we stop waiting until that first interaction happens?

Matt shared with us:

“I am most interested in how we make the educational process proactive instead of reactive, before the person with a disability enters the room, and before negative experiences occur. And I think collaboration within your community is the first step.”

Waiting until a person with a disability walks through your door to begin learning is already too late. The goal should be to build knowledgeable, confident, and inclusive professionals before that first interaction ever takes place.

Get Proximate to People Who Need You

This finding reinforces something we’ve been saying at Adaptive Training Academy for years: Get proximate to the people who need you.

How? Volunteer at an adaptive sporting event. Attend a wheelchair basketball game. Watch the Paralympics. Visit a para powerlifting competition. Intern at an adaptive fitness class.

Because exposure changes perspective.

Throughout the interviews, researchers found the same pattern again and again: people encountered disability first, then sought education to understand how to become a better trainer. Exposure preceded expertise.

Reading this study reminded me of something chef and adventurer Anthony Bourdain understood deeply. He spent his life traveling the world because he believed that sharing experiences with people breaks down barriers and changes how we see one another.

One of his most famous quotes was:

“You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”

There is something about sharing time together that unlocks perspective. Whether it’s over a meal or a training session, that experience strips away assumptions. You stop seeing someone’s diagnosis. You start seeing their ability. Their struggles. Their determination. Their insecurities. Their confidence. Their goals.

You stop seeing “a person with a disability.” You simply see another person. But now you have a better understanding of what it’s like to be them.

When disability is no longer something you’ve only heard about and instead becomes embodied by a person you know, your perspective shifts.

You stop thinking about accessibility in theory and start thinking about helping a real person achieve their goals. The study suggests that education often follows exposure. I think that’s true of empathy as well. When disability is no longer something you’ve only read about and instead becomes embodied by someone you know, your perspective changes.

And sometimes, that single relationship is the beginning of an entirely new career…and an entirely new purpose!

After a trauma or illness, people may spend weeks to months working with medical professionals and physical therapists to regain function. Then one day, the insurance-approved visits run out. And the system essentially says:

“Good luck.”

For many PwD, this transition feels abrupt, confusing, and isolating. They may technically “graduate” from physical therapy while still feeling physically unprepared for real-world life and long-term health training.

In many cases, they are still profoundly deconditioned. And most have absolutely no idea how to safely train their body moving forward.

I know this experience personally.

After recovering from injuries sustained during my time in the Navy, I eventually completed physical therapy and was discharged from formal care. My big accomplishment after using a wheelchair and not walking for months was navigating stairs safely on crutches. But despite technically “finishing rehab,” I still had no understanding of how to train with my new physical limitations. How would I squat, or deadlift, or really do anything now?

Nobody taught me:

• how to adapt exercises,

• how to structure training,

• or how to train safely.

I was medically discharged from care…but not truly prepared for independent physical training. And that experience is incredibly common.

The Faulty System

In the United States, physical therapy is largely controlled by the insurance system. Access to care is often limited by referral requirements, authorization processes, reimbursement restrictions, and caps on the number of covered visits. In many cases, therapy is approved only until a patient reaches a certain level of “functional independence” or demonstrates enough improvement to justify discharge1.

But there is a major difference between being medically stable and being physically prepared for long-term health.

A person may complete rehabilitation while still lacking the knowledge needed to safely train with their new abilities. They may no longer qualify for insurance-covered therapy, yet still be far from physically thriving.

This creates a major gap in knowledge and support that ends on the criteria of the insurance system rather than the actual needs of the person.

The healthcare system is primarily designed to restore basic function and reduce immediate impairment. It is not structured to provide long-term fitness development, performance training, or continued wellness support after formal rehabilitation ends.

As a result, many PwD experience what feels like a “hard stop” in care. One day, they are working with trained professionals; the next, they are expected to navigate a traditional gym independently, which often feels inaccessible or ill-equipped to support them.

For many individuals, this transition becomes one of the most difficult parts of recovery. Not because they no longer need physical training, but because the system was never designed to bridge rehabilitation into lifelong fitness.

Physical Therapists to the Rescue!

For many reasons, Physical Therapists (PT) are uniquely positioned to help solve the transition from rehabilitation into lifelong physical training.

KNOWLEDGE
PTs already possess many of the hardest skills to teach adaptive fitness trainers. PTs typically possess far more formalized education in human movement than most fitness trainers. They understand and have passed a licensing exam proving their knowledge on anatomy and pathology, movement mechanics, recovery and rehabilitative methods, safety considerations, and individualized care.

TRUST
More importantly, they already work directly with people adapting to life after injury, illness, surgery, or disability. They also already have something incredibly valuable that many aspiring fitness businesses spend years trying to build: trust.

Patients often spend weeks or months developing strong therapeutic relationships with their physical therapists during some of the most vulnerable periods of their lives. PT clinics become places where people learn to move again, rebuild confidence, and regain independence. That level of trust creates a natural bridge into continued fitness and wellness services.

ACCESSIBLE FACILITY & EQUIPMENT
And in many cases, PT clinics already have much of the physical infrastructure needed to support adaptive fitness services. Rehabilitation clinics already contain the necessary fitness equipment, such as free weights, bands, cable machines, and cardio equipment. They also have specialized equipment typically not found in most gyms, such as balance supports, overhead support track systems, gait trainers, treatment tables, and a variety of safety devices. Many therapy facilities are functionally very similar to fitness studios; they simply operate under a medical model rather than a long-term wellness model.

The combination of knowledge, trust, and accessible training spaces creates a major opportunity to solve the transition gap.

Instead of discharging patients into uncertainty once insurance-covered therapy ends, clinics could begin offering structured pathways into ongoing adaptive fitness programs. Rather than ending the relationship when rehabilitation is “complete,” the clinic could evolve into a long-term support system focused on helping people continue to improve their health, fitness, and independence.

For many patients, this type of transition would feel far more natural than suddenly entering a traditional gym environment alone.

The need already exists. What is missing are enough systems designed to bridge rehabilitation into lifelong fitness.

The Business Opportunity for PT Clinics

From a business perspective, this creates a major opportunity for PT clinics to diversify revenue beyond insurance reimbursement.

Most clinics already have the core ingredients needed to build adaptive fitness services: educated movement professionals, trusted patient relationships, physical space, and training equipment. What many clinics do not realize is that they are already serving a population that continues needing physical training long after formal rehabilitation ends.

Every week, patients finish physical therapy still needing guidance with strength, endurance, mobility, confidence, and exercise adaptation. Yet once insurance-covered care ends, many are left trying to navigate traditional fitness spaces alone, or they stop training altogether.

That creates a major opportunity for clinics willing to bridge rehabilitation into long-term fitness. PT clinics can affect major changes in their patients’ lives and provide additional revenue from fitness services.

Instead of discharging patients completely, PT clinics could offer post-rehab adaptive fitness training. This creates continuity of care for patients while also generating recurring cash-based revenue streams independent of insurance limitations.

And unlike traditional fitness businesses competing for new members, PT clinics already have direct access to a population actively needing these services. The patient-to-trainee pipeline already exists. What’s missing is the bridge between rehabilitation and lifelong fitness.

The Future May Belong to Hybrid Rehab + Fitness Gyms

Some of the most innovative adaptive programs today are beginning to blur the traditional line between healthcare and fitness.

Instead of treating rehabilitation and long-term wellness as completely separate systems, these programs combine rehabilitation principles with strength and conditioning, fitness training, community support, and long-term health coaching. And in many ways, that model makes far more sense than the hard divide that currently exists between physical therapy and the fitness industry.

Because people recovering from injury, illness, or disability do not suddenly stop needing physical support once insurance coverage ends.

In fact, that transition period is often when guidance matters most.

A person may leave rehabilitation medically stable but still lack the strength, endurance, confidence, or movement knowledge needed to successfully return to independent fitness and daily life. Without continued support, many become sedentary again, lose progress, or struggle to maintain their health long term.

Some clinics are already recognizing this gap and building systems to solve it.

For example, Matrix Physical Therapy in Michigan has expanded beyond traditional rehabilitation services to offer adaptive fitness and strength programs that help people continue training after therapy ends. Their programs include adaptive fitness classes led by AIT-certified trainers, helping bridge the gap between rehabilitation and long-term fitness participation.

This type of model creates continuity instead of a hard stop. Rather than discharging people from care and expecting them to figure things out alone, clinics can provide a structured pathway into lifelong fitness, wellness, and community support.

The clinics, coaches, and organizations that recognize this gap early may help create an entirely new category of adaptive health and fitness services — one focused not just on recovery, but on lifelong physical independence and health.

From System Faults and Care Gaps to Action

Right now, too many PwD experience a “hard stop” between rehabilitation and lifelong fitness. They leave therapy medically discharged but still lacking the guidance, confidence, and support needed to continue improving their health independently.

Physical therapists are uniquely positioned to help solve this problem.

They already possess the movement knowledge, patient trust, and accessible facilities needed to create a bridge between rehabilitation and long-term fitness. By integrating adaptive fitness services into existing clinics, PTs have the opportunity to improve continuity of care, expand long-term patient outcomes, and create sustainable new revenue streams beyond insurance reimbursement.

The need already exists.
The patient population already exists.
The facilities and expertise often already exist.

What’s missing are more professionals willing to bridge the gap between rehabilitation and lifelong fitness. And the clinics that move first may help define the future of adaptive health, fitness, and recovery.

But what the industry rarely discusses is that serving people with disabilities (PwD) may also represent one of the biggest business opportunities in modern fitness.

For years, adaptive fitness has been viewed primarily through the lens of charity, nonprofit work, or community service. Many gym owners assume serving PwD is admirable but financially unsustainable.

That assumption is wrong.

The reality is that adaptive fitness represents a massive underserved market with extremely limited competition, high client loyalty, and exponential long-term growth.

And businesses that recognize this early may help shape the future of the fitness industry.

The Fitness Industry Is Ignoring a Massive Market

The global health and fitness club industry is estimated to generate more than $100 billion annually and is projected to grow to nearly $300 billion by 2036, while the broader wellness and fitness economy (supplements, coaching, apparel) is valued in the trillions1.

U.S. health clubs/studios generate a $22.4 billion economic impact with over 72 million Americans belonging to fitness facilities2.

Yet despite the industry’s enormous size, one of the largest populations in society remains dramatically underserved: People with Disabilities!

There are an estimated 1 in 4 Americans lives with a disability. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates more than 1.3 billion people live with disabilities, representing approximately 16% of the world’s population (it’s likely higher)34.

Those numbers are staggering. And yet adaptive fitness programs remain extremely rare. Most commercial gyms lack adaptive fitness education. And in large portions of the country, finding an adaptive fitness trainer or program is still nearly impossible.

From a business perspective, that creates a massive imbalance:
👉 high demand with extremely limited supply

That is not a niche market.
That is a market gap.
And that is an opportunity for businesses!

Most Gyms Are Competing for the Same Customers

Gyms operate under different business models, ranging from open-gym memberships to personal training to more individualized programming and boutique services. Most commercial gyms (like Planet Fitness and Lifetime) sell memberships and hope the members don’t come too often but keep paying (because if they all came regularly, they’d be overwhelmed), while smaller group-fitness gyms like F45, Orangetheory, and CrossFit thrive on community connection and smaller membership sizes. Yet, they all compete for the same pool of potential clients.

Meanwhile, millions of PwD remain largely excluded from the traditional fitness ecosystem altogether.

The irony is that many gym owners spend enormous amounts of effort trying to figure out how to differentiate themselves and stand out in crowded markets, increase retention, and build stronger communities.

Offering adaptive fitness can accomplish all of those things simultaneously:
✅ Differentiate 👉 Your business could be the only one in the area that serves PwD.

✅ Retain Members 👉 Provide safe and effective adaptive fitness, and your adaptive trainees may never leave because you’ve gained their trust.

✅ Stronger Communities 👉 Gyms that successfully include people with disabilities often develop stronger cultures overall because inclusive coaching requires better communication, empathy, problem-solving, and individualized coaching, skills that ultimately improve the experience for every member5

When a gym becomes known as a place that genuinely welcomes and understands people with disabilities, something powerful happens: PwD tell their friends, family, therapists, and community. And because adaptive-friendly fitness services are still relatively rare, strong programs often grow rapidly through trust and word-of-mouth referrals.

🚨 See if there are any AIT-certified trainers in your geographic area. Check out the AIT Directory & Map. If there aren’t many or any in your area…that’s your cue to get your education and start a program ASAP!

AIT Directory and Map

A Real-World Example: Fit To Function Recovery

Fit To Function Recovery is one example of what happens when someone recognizes the adaptive fitness gap and chooses to solve it.

The gym was founded by Jenna Muri-Rosenthal, a brain injury specialist and speech-language pathologist who saw a major problem in the healthcare system:
👎 People with neurological conditions were leaving acute care and rehabilitation settings without long-term fitness support systems designed for their needs.

Instead of waiting for the industry to catch up, Jenna carved her own path.

She began by training people with neurological conditions one-on-one inside other gyms using standard fitness equipment and existing spaces. Over time, demand grew because the need already existed… and becuase clinicians and therapists were seeing their patients’ success and referring more and more people to Jenna.

Eventually, that growth led to the creation of her own dedicated facility.

Today, Fit To Function Recovery operates as a six-figure-revenue, profitable adaptive fitness business that serves individuals with neurological conditions and other disabilities through multiple service offerings.

The facility currently supports approximately:

• 75 one-on-one sessions per week

• 7+ AIT certified trainers

• 10+ hours of specialty classes weekly

• 4 hours of kids programming weekly

• 12 hours of group fitness classes (open to all abilities).

The demand for training at Fit To Function is growing at such a pace that Jenna has a waitlist of potential new members and is looking to expand her gym…the second time in under two years.

And perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates a critical lesson 👉 the demand for adaptive fitness already exists.

Final Thought

Again, the demand for adaptive fitness already exists. A large population of PwD who need fitness training from a gym just like yours already exists. What’s missing are enough educated adaptive fitness professionals and businesses willing to meet the existing need.

Inclusion is absolutely the right thing to do. But the fitness industry should stop pretending that morality and business opportunity cannot exist together. Because adaptive fitness programs can represent both.

And the organizations willing to move first may help define the future of fitness…and disability inclusion.

To quote Field of Dreams (and Wayne’s World 2)…

If you build it, they will come.

People with disabilities (PwD) are one of the most underserved populations in health and fitness, despite representing a significant portion of society. We also explored how many trainers genuinely want to help but simply were never educated on how to confidently and safely train people with disabilities.

But there is another question we need to ask:
If nearly 1 in 4 people have a disability1…
👉 Why don’t gym communities reflect that proportion?
You don’t see 25% of the gym membership with a disability!

Although not all disabilities are visually apparent, there should still be an equivalent proportion of your gym members with disabilities. But, this just isn’t happening. And, many gyms don’t have any PwD at all! What’s the issue(s)???

The Disability Population Exists. The Fitness Infrastructure Doesn’t.

People with disabilities are not absent from society. They are absent from fitness programs. That distinction matters.

When many gym owners or coaches think about disability access, they often think about physical accessibility alone: ramps, elevators, wider doorways, or handicap parking spaces. While those things absolutely matter, accessibility in fitness goes far beyond architecture.

A gym can technically meet ADA requirements and still feel completely inaccessible to a person with a disability.

Why?

True inclusion is heavily influenced by communication skills, accessibility signaling, culture, social interactions, and awareness. Most fitness facilities are not intentionally designed to exclude people with disabilities. In fact, many gym owners genuinely believe they are inclusive. But inclusion without preparation or action to offset exclusionary biases often creates environments where people with disabilities still feel unsupported, unsafe, or unwelcome.

Sometimes the barriers are physical:

• Equipment layouts that cannot accommodate mobility devices (like wheelchairs),

• Front desks and check-in areas don’t have accessible desk heights, or the self-check-in technology is difficult to use (for many reasons)

• The way equipment is stored (like bands hanging above dumbbell racks, making it difficult to reach)

• Fitness machines that are inaccessible due to equipment spacing

Other times, the barriers are social or a lack of knowledge about disability training:

• People with disabilities may not see themselves reflected in gym marketing or in the membership population (a signal that they may not belong there)

• A trainer may want to help but have no idea how to program for the needs of their ability or adapt a group workout (safely and effectively)

• Staff members may become uncomfortable or overly cautious because they fear saying the wrong thing or causing harm

• Coaches may panic when traditional exercises need to be modified from more than a simple scaling option

👉 And people with disabilities notice this immediately.

Many have experienced going into a gym only to feel invisible, awkward, or treated like a liability instead of a member. Some report being ignored by staff entirely because nobody knows how to approach them. Others are handed workouts that clearly were never designed with them in mind, with no meaningful attempt at adaptation. Even when the intentions are good, the experience can still communicate: “This program and community were not built with you in mind.”

After enough negative experiences, many people simply stop trying. Not because they do not want to improve their health. Not because they lack motivation. But because constantly fighting to access fitness becomes exhausting.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the industry: people with disabilities are often described as “hard to reach,” when in reality, the fitness industry has simply failed to build systems designed to reach them.

1️⃣ Step 1 for gyms and trainers is awareness that they may not be as accessible as they think. Time to review your physical and digital spaces as well as your program offerings.
2️⃣ Then, step 2 is to take action!

So What Do We Do About It?

The good news is that solving this problem does not require every gym to completely rebuild itself or purchase massive amounts of expensive adaptive equipment.

What the fitness industry needs most right now is not perfection. It needs organizations and trainers willing to start. That’s it. Simply start offering your services to people with disabilities. Sounds easy, right? Well…it is 🙌

ATA recommends starting training with one person. Be humble and admit your inexperience and openness to learn with your trainee. Then, when you know better, make better choices for them and grow your program and adaptive community. Inevitably, people in the disability community will recommend your services after a great experience. Your word-of-mouth referrals will skyrocket!

But if you want the cheat code and want to ramp up your knowledge, earn your specialized adaptive education.

Adaptive Training Academy has now graduated more than 6,000 trainers through the Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer (AIT) Course, with certified coaches located around the world and listed on ATA’s searchable trainer directory and map.

Having certified trainers is meaningful progress. But it also highlights the size of the problem. If nearly 1 in 4 people live with a disability (~87,000,000 in the USA), the current number of adaptive fitness trainers and programs is still nowhere near enough to provide the baseline level of access that should already exist within the fitness industry.

🚨 That’s 1 certified trainer for every ~58,000 people with a disability

More trainers are needed. More programs are needed. And more gyms need to stop waiting until they feel “fully ready” before getting started. The reality is that most gyms are far closer to serving people with disabilities than they realize.

🔑 Takeaways:

1. Get started now! Don’t wait. Start training one person or a small group and grow naturally from there.

2. Ramp up your knowledge with specialized trainer education. This also signals to the disability community that you’re serious about training them becuase you have the credentials to prove it!

   But Can I Make Money Serving PwD?

In Part 3 of The Need For Adaptive Fitness Trainers, we’ll explore the business case behind adaptive fitness:

• Why gyms are missing out on a significant revenue stream

• Why adaptive fitness may represent one of the largest untapped markets in the industry

• Why motivated trainers should consider opening facilities specifically designed to serve people with disabilities

👉 Inclusion is not just the right thing to do; it may also be one of the biggest business opportunities in modern fitness.

But for millions of people with disabilities, that statement is still not true in practice.

The problem is rarely a lack of motivation from the athlete. More often, it is a lack of education, access, and preparedness within the fitness industry itself.

Many trainers want to help people with disabilities, but have never been taught how. They are unsure how to adapt movements, communicate appropriately, use adaptive equipment, or modify programming safely and effectively. As a result, people with disabilities are frequently excluded from traditional fitness environments—not because they cannot train, but because the system was never designed with them in mind.

The need for adaptive fitness trainers is not a niche issue. It is a global public health issue.

Disability Is More Common Than Most People Realize

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.3 billion people worldwide live with a disability (approximately 16% of the global population)1. In the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 4 adults has a disability2.

Yet despite representing one of the world’s largest minority populations, people with disabilities remain significantly underserved in fitness, recreation, and health promotion systems.

Research3456 consistently shows that people with disabilities experience:

• Higher rates of obesity

• Increased risk of cardiovascular disease

• Reduced access to preventative healthcare

• Lower rates of physical activity participation

• Greater levels of social isolation

The CDC reports that adults with disabilities are nearly twice as likely to be physically inactive compared to adults without disabilities7.

This creates a dangerous cycle:

👎 Reduced access to fitness leads to inactivity…
👉 Inactivity increases health complications…
👉 Health complications further reduce independence and quality of life

Adaptive fitness trainers can break that cycle.

The Fitness Industry Was Not Built for Disability

Most fitness certification systems spend little to no time teaching trainers how to work with people with disabilities.

As a result:

• Trainers lack confidence coaching people with disabilities

• Trainers don’t have proper communication skills and fear saying the wrong thing

• Gym owners avoid marketing to disabled populations (becuase they aren’t able to serve that population or don’t have any current members with disabilities)

• People with disabilities feel unwelcome or unsafe

ATA emphasizes that many trainers report fear of offending trainees with disabilities and uncertainty about how to communicate effectively8. This educational gap creates an accessibility problem far larger than ramps or door widths.

A gym can technically meet legal accessibility standards while still being functionally inaccessible if the staff lacks the knowledge to coach disabled athletes safely and confidently.

Inclusion is not just ADA-compliant restrooms. Inclusion requires education and then action.

The Future of Fitness Must Include Disability

The fitness industry is slowly evolving toward inclusivity, but there is still a massive gap between intention and implementation.

People with disabilities should not have to “hope” they find a qualified trainer.

Accessible and inclusive fitness education should become a standard part of professional development for:

• Personal trainers

• Strength coaches

• Therapists

• Group fitness instructors

• Gym owners

• Recreation staff

• Sport coaches

Because disability is not rare. And fitness is not optional.

If the mission of fitness is truly to improve health and quality of life, then the industry must stop treating adaptive training as a specialty for a small population and start recognizing it as an essential part of professional competency.

The question is no longer whether people with disabilities belong in fitness spaces.

The real question is whether the fitness industry is finally ready to learn how to coach them properly.

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Awareness, Knowledge, Action!

There’s a gap in fitness. And if you’ve spent any time coaching, training, or living with a disability, you know how underserved it is.

It’s not a gap in intention. It’s a lack of awareness, knowledge and most importantly…ACTION!

Adaptive Training Knowledge was created to close that gap.

This publication is the official voice of Adaptive Training Academy (ATA), built to share practical, real-world education for athletes and fitness professionals who believe that training should be accessible to every body. Not theoretical. Not watered down. Not “inspiration-first.” This is about serving the adaptive community better through knowledge, structure, and practical action.

What to Expect

You’ll find adaptive fitness and sport content here that you can actually use:

• Coaching frameworks for working with athletes with disabilities

• Exercise adaptations and progressions you can apply immediately

• Deep dives into specific conditions and how they impact training

• Programming strategies for inclusive classes and one-on-one coaching

• Real stories and case studies from athletes, coaches, and communities in the field

Whether you’re a coach looking to build confidence, a clinician bridging into fitness, or an athlete navigating your own training…we’re here to give you tools, not just ideas!

Because inclusion isn’t a slogan. It’s a skill set. And like any skill, it can be learned, practiced, and improved.

Follow Along!

Join the conversation and see more vids:
Instagram: @adaptivetraining
YouTube: youtube.com/@adaptivetrainingacademy
Website: www.ata.fit