Making the Workout World More Inclusive: Meet the Fitness Pros

When I first got involved in fitness as an adult, I was incredibly intimidated. Walking into the gym felt scary, especially when I saw all of the incredibly fit-looking people around me. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb and didn't know what I was doing. I didn't feel comfortable navigating the gym, and I didn't see any employees or trainers who looked like me. I wasn't sure if I belonged there or if anyone could relate to my experiences.

My first experience with a trainer was a free session I was gifted for joining the gym. I remember it vividly - I had never been to a gym in my entire adult life, so imagine engaging in the most brutal training session you can imagine. The trainer had me doing burpees, push-ups, lunges, jump squats, and everything in between for 30 minutes, with very little rest. By the end of the workout, I was light-headed and shaking, almost passing out. The trainer freaked out and brought me sugar packets to revive me.

After a few minutes of rest, the trainer explained that I did a great job and that he would have me down 30 pounds in no time. However, there was a big problem: he never asked me about my goals. We hadn't discussed anything prior to the session, and he just assumed that I wanted to lose weight. He went on to explain that, as a Black woman, I needed to manage my weight because I was at a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease.

I left the session feeling defeated and completely out of shape, feeling that I didn't belong in that space. I had been embarrassed in front of multiple trainers and patrons, and the gym didn't feel like a welcoming space for someone like me who was new to fitness.

For individuals with marginalized identities, walking into a gym can be terrifying. Having access to trainers of diverse backgrounds can go a long way in making gym-goers feel more comfortable. A person's unique set of varying identities impacts the way they see and experience the world, and having the ability to train with someone who shares some of these identities can allow individuals to feel more comfortable in a gym setting and more comfortable opening up about any fears or hesitations. It also leads to a feeling of safety, which can help motivate people to stick to a training plan.

Additionally, simple practices can make a big difference in creating a more inclusive workout world, such as installing gender-neutral or single-stall changing rooms and bathroom facilities, asking individuals their pronouns, having a diverse staff, refusing to make assumptions about people's fitness or weight loss goals, and being wheelchair accessible.

Fitness is for everyone, regardless of size, gender, ability status, shape, age, or ethnicity. The benefits of movement extend to every single human being, providing reduced stress levels, better sleep, and increased physical strength. Everyone deserves access to strength in environments that feel welcoming and comfortable. Seeing other trainers with similar backgrounds who want to make fitness more inclusive for everyone fosters the ability to feel like you belong in the space and that all of your health and fitness goals, whether weight loss-related or not, are valid and important.

Here are ten trainers who not only understand the importance of making the workout world more inclusive, but who embody it in their practices:

Morit Summers, one of the co-founders of Form Fitness BK, along with Francine Delgado-Lugo and Jowan Ortega, is on a mission to prove that everyone can achieve their fitness objectives. She recreates popular and sometimes difficult workout videos produced by other fitness influencers and coaches on Instagram, modifying the exercises to make them more accessible to regular gym-goers. She emphasizes that even if you modify a movement, it does not make you less capable. Summers does everything from powerlifting and Olympic lifting to completing a Spartan race, making her a complete badass in the gym. She proudly displays her strong and capable body on social media, reminding people not to judge a book by its cover.

Lady Velez, M.D., the coach and director of operations at Strength for All, a Brooklyn-based gym, decided to pursue a career in fitness after graduating from medical school in 2018. She felt that being a coach was more conducive to helping people with their actual health and well-being than practicing medicine. As a queer woman of color, Dr. Velez trains and coaches clients in weightlifting, powerlifting, and CrossFit, helping them harness their own personal power and strength. Dr. Velez enjoys teaching at Strength For All, a gym that is inclusive and operates on a sliding-scale, because she has noticed that many people do not feel welcome in fitness spaces. Her passion is evident on Instagram, where she frequently showcases the clients she feels honored to work with.

Asher Freeman is the founder of Nonnormative Body Club, which offers a sliding-scale queer and trans group fitness class in Philadelphia. Freeman is a trans personal trainer who is determined to smash racist, fatphobic, cisnormative, and ableist myths about our bodies. Besides providing training and tips to business owners on ways to establish a successful sliding-scale system to ensure that fitness is financially accessible, Freeman hosts a range of classes and workshops to educate the fitness community about how to practice inclusivity, including Chest Binding 101 - a Webinar for Fitness Professional to Better Service Clients Who Bind.

Roslyn Mays, also known as Roz the Diva, is a personal trainer, pole dancing competitor, and group fitness instructor who makes sure that everyone feels welcome in her classes, regardless of their sexuality, size, gender, or ability. She teaches classes at studios like Body & Pole and Incredipole and has led workshops about topics such as Building Confidence and Plus-Sized Pole Dancing. Mays also founded Dangerous Curves, a pole dancing competition for plus-size athletes.

Nathalie Huerta founded The Queer Gym based on her own experiences as a lesbian athlete at traditional gyms. Her objective was to create a safe and welcoming space for everyone. The gym initially offered in-person classes in Oakland, California, but now provides exclusively virtual classes. Huerta explained to Shape Magazine that "I realized there really weren't any inclusive gyms ensuring safety for the queer community, so I built my own. I created a space so that folks [such as] myself could feel comfortable accessing fitness and wellness while also feeling a sense of community."

When Jessica Rihal took her first fitness class, she observed that there weren't a lot of other pupils who looked like her as a Black and South Asian person who had a large body. As a yoga and meditation instructor, her goal now is to establish an environment where everyone feels at home. Rihal states that "I foster inclusivity in my hatha yoga classes by placing emphasis on being present and moving for the body and with the energy you have in this moment with no end goal or 'results' on the horizon. This is made possible by offering a variety of options and variations on traditional postures that may be difficult to obtain for one reason or another."

A therapist and personal trainer, Emily Young realized that clients could benefit from trainers who were informed in the subject of trauma. She began adjusting her approach to training to meet the needs of her clients. 'I didn't know what to call it at the time, but I could look around the gym and see that the work I was doing was different,' she previously told Shape, noting that she then found an existing name for what she'd been doing. 'It was like an a-ha moment of finding my place,' says Young. 'As soon as I saw the words 'trauma-informed personal training,' I was like, 'That is what I've been doing.'' Young worked with Hope Ignited Training to develop a driveTrauma-Informed Personal Training Certification, designed to help trainers learn about trauma and its impacts on the body.

Wesley Hamilton was shot multiple times in 2012, which left him paralyzed below the waist. The life-altering event drove him to adopt new fitness and nutrition habits and found that he felt healthier and gained confidence. Hamilton created Disabled But Not Really, a non-profit that empowers people living with disabilities through fitness and mental health education, and started competing in adaptive CrossFit competitions. The organization launched a #HelpMeFit challenge, an eight-week program with training sessions and nutrition and mental health education for athletes with disabilities. Related: Meet Wesley Hamilton, the Founder of Disabled But Not Really Who's Empowering Athletes of All Abilities

When she hired a trainer in hopes of gaining strength, Anne Reuss realized that she was coaching others on how to coach her, a deaf person, more clearly. The experience inspired her to become a trainer herself and introduce soundless coaching. Reuss recently finished a contract with Marvel Studios and is currently offering one on one virtual and in-person training for entrepreneurs and sharing fitness and mindset practices on her Instagram. “Movement is the great equalizer,” says Reuss. “It doesn’t matter what background you come from, what your identity or gender is, what culture you represent.” 

Dianne Bondy is an accessible yoga teacher who believes all people should be made to feel welcome to practice yoga. She teamed up with fellow yoga teacher Amber Karnes to create Yoga For All, an online certification program for teachers who want to offer accessible yoga. She started YogaForEveryone.tv, a workout streaming site with accessible yoga videos for people of all shapes, sizes, and ability levels.

Melissa Shah is the founder of Find Your Breath, a yoga education brand that aims to make the the activity accessible, increase the representation of minorities in the wellness space, and decolonize the ancient practice of yoga. As a yoga therapist, Shah strives to adjust the practice to students’ individual needs, whether that means adapting asanas or offering one-on-one sessions. Find Your Breath has offered classes exclusively for clients with marginalized identities and workshops with discounted rates for BIPOC students.