For people with disabilities, it’s not easy finding a gym that allows them to exercise and practice healthy habits. Sure, there are other ways for disabled people to participate in recreational activities; however, gyms with equipment for disabled individuals are few and far between.

Brendan Aylward is working to change that. In 2016, he opened Unified Health and Performance in Lancaster. Unified Health and Performance is a gym that is accessible for people with disabilities, as well as traditional athletes. Alyward’s gym trains 320 members throughout the year, and about 70 members have various intellectual and physical disabilities.

Aylward first began training athletes in the fall of 2013 at Anytime Fitness in Maynard. He works individually with clients to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. I had the privilege of going to a few sessions to see how he worked with these athletes.

It was as if Aylward was trying to solve a puzzle. The athlete performed an exercise, and Aylward said, “Try to do it to the best of your ability.” The athlete tried it again.

“Good, much better,” Aylward said.

“I wanted to give my athletes from Special Olympics an opportunity to train just like the high school sports teams that I was working with at the time,” Aylward said. “I think there is an issue when people expect less out of an individual with a disability.”

Having worked as the head of the Best Buddies program at Nashoba Regional High School, Aylward has ample experience mentoring disabled individuals. In addition to his work with Best Buddies, he served as a pitcher for the Lancaster Little League baseball program on Saturdays. Founded in 2008, Lancaster Little League is still operating and currently meets every Saturday from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in June. All players involved have varying physical and intellectual disabilities.

As his gym idea was gaining traction, he enlisted the help of myself (since I have cerebral palsy), along with others, in an effort to further gain an idea of how his equipment should be modified. One of the initial philosophies he has used when training me, as well as his other gym members, is to have his athletes focus on doing the exercise correctly, rather than racing to get as many reps of an exercise as possible.

“One of my goals is to bring more legitimacy to adaptive fitness and prove that when given the correct environment and instruction, anyone can be successful with training,” Aylward said.

As it turns out, Aylward is the minority when it comes to gyms that are accessible to the disabled. A 2017 collaborative study, which examined the accessibility of various gyms across the United States, was conducted by James H. Rimmer, Ph.D.; Sangeetha Padalabalanarayanan, MS; Laurie A. Malone, Ph.D.; and Tapan Mehta. Across 10 states (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Texas and Texas), 227 gyms were sampled. The study used a measuring scale titled the “Accessibility Instrument Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments” (AIMFREE), and all the gyms were measured per the scale

Low accessibility levels were found in the gyms that were built before the establishment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. High accessibility levels were found in gyms that were built after the ADA was put in place. This study was an eye-opening one. The conclusion of the study found that “individuals with disabilities encounter substantial obstacles to participating in health-promoting activities due to physical and social environments that limit fitness and recreation opportunities.”

Unified Health provided Justin Peirce with the opportunity to partake in physical activities in a way he had not been able to before. He was one of the first athletes Aylward trained. A basketball player, Peirce came to Aylward looking to improve his intangibles, such as running and jumping, and he has seen the results so far.

“Brendan’s training has made me much stronger and especially faster,” Peirce said. “When I first started with Brendan, I wasn’t as quick as I should have been, but from what he has done with me, I have become much faster and can now play much better defense.”

For some people, Unified Health and Performance is more than just a place to lift weights. For Peirce, Aylward’s caring nature and outgoing personality made him open up more. Now, Peirce has become more outgoing and has gained self-confidence.

“Brendan has been a great role model for me and no doubt has changed me for the better,” Peirce said. “Because of him, I have joined Best Buddies and started to work with the disabled community much more. Going to the gym and being friends with Brendan has made me a much more caring person, and for this, I am grateful.”

Peirce also empathizes with disabled individuals who cannot find a gym where they feel comfortable working out. This is a big reason why he believes Unified Health and Performance will be able to succeed.

“I think it is sad that there are so few gyms like Brendan’s,” Peirce said. “However, I also think this provides Brendan with an opportunity to be at the top of the business. Being one of the few will allow him to grow and become very successful, not just in our community but in all of New England, and maybe even the whole country. And I have no doubt that with his caring personality and unreal work ethic that he will do this.”

A typical class for adaptive athletes consists of exercises listed on a whiteboard for them to complete. A typical workout includes rowing, running, biking, pushing sleds and some weight training (squats, weighted carries, stepups, pressing and rows).

A popular exercise involves pulling a sled. To try and get a better sense of what the workout entailed, I tried it out for myself. Aylward attached a harness to the sled and draped it over me so I would be attached to the sled. Putting weights on the sled, my task is to pull the sled with the weights attached to it. Aylward had me do two sled pulls. It is not easy, and on this particular day, I was fatigued after two reps.

Aylward said he wants to not only open more gyms across New England, but also open gyms across the country, as well.

“The big-picture goal is to take my inclusive model of fitness and spread it around New England – and hopefully, the country. I think it is very realistic to assume that there could be more Unified Health and Performance Centers in the next 10 years.”

Danny Jaillet