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Providing training and support to personal trainers and fitness businesses looking to meet the unique exercise needs of people with disabilities, WeFlex has announced a partnership with Anytime Fitness that aims to enhance inclusion for people living with a disability within the franchise group’s training spaces.

With 20% of Australia’s population having some form of disability, WeFlex founder Tommy Trout is committed to expanding fitness opportunities for people living with a disability.

Trout explains “WeFlex was created to help connect people with disability to the immense benefits that fitness can offer through educating trainers on how to work with those who have unique needs, educating the staff of gyms on how to make everyone feel welcome as well as guiding gyms with tips on how to make their clubs welcoming, from their lighting to their facilities and more.

Having first partnered with across Anytime Fitness in the Sydney suburb of Drummoyne, WeFlex has now linked up with the entire group to ensure their gyms are a welcoming environment for those with sensory needs or disabilities.

As a result, Anytime Fitness is now making changes to its clubs to make them more inclusive, making use of training modules to upskill trainers by teaching them how to work with people who have a disability.

These programs were developed by WeFlex in partnership with both clinical experts and people with lived experience to create these modules, so the trainers are learning from people who have the disability.

With both his brother and late father being on the autism spectrum, Tommy Trout’s creation of WeFlex was prompted by his experience in finding his brother a suitable gym where he could exercise.

His initial experience saw his brother get turned down as trainers did not know how to accommodate his needs.

This led to him becoming a personal trainer himself so that he could train his brother.

He now feels that Anytime Fitness is “showing everyone that their space is one where they are welcome.”

WeFlex is a finalist in the Most Diverse or Inclusive Program or Facility category at the 2022 AUSactive National Awards.

Image: Tommy Trout (left) with his brother Jackson.

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