Tuesday January 11th 2022
The DR Inclusive Fitness gym in Straiton, Midlothian.
A dedicated gym offering personal training, rehabilitation, and peer support for Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions has opened in Straiton, Midlothian.
Launching three years ago and understood to be the first dedicated business in Scotland offering personalised programmes for Disabled people, DR Inclusive Fitness has now opened its first gym after quickly outgrowing its facility in Edinburgh.
Research shows that, with 19% of working-age adults in the UK being disabled, interest in bespoke personal training services for Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions is quickly growing. However, this hasn’t been met with a growth in services available to enable Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to live healthy, active lives in their communities. In fact, Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey data shows Disabled people are almost twice as likely to be physically inactive as their non-Disabled peers.
Gym owner and personal trainer Dale Robertson said:
“DR Inclusive Fitness is more than a gym – it’s a place for Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to develop new skills, develop in confidence, and gain peer support from other Disabled people. Having worked with Disabled people for over fifteen years, I’ve seen the isolation and loneliness that Disabled people can experience by not having the chance to meet their peers with similar lived experiences. I’m proud that we can now offer a place for people to meet, connect, and live healthy and active lives.
“The Coronavirus pandemic has further increased the challenges that Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions can face in accessing health and fitness services in their community. DR Inclusive Fitness’ first gym has bespoke equipment that isn’t found in commercial gyms, enabling Disabled people to achieve their goals in a way they simply haven’t been able to do before.”
Disabled client Jhon Bateman said:
“I got in contact with Dale at the start of 2020 to find out more about personal training and whether he could help me to build my mobility levels as a wheelchair user. Little did I know that in a few months we’d go into lockdown, but I kept in contact with Dale, and we worked on developing my strength and mobility as much as possible ready for when the gyms reopened.
“When I first visited a commercial gym with Dale, it quickly became clear that a lot of the equipment wasn’t accessible for me. Working together, we managed to overcome some of these obstacles but having access to a dedicated gym for people just like me has given me the chance to achieve goals that I never thought were possible.”
Find out more about DR Inclusive Fitness and book a free, no-obligation consultation by emailing dale@drinclusivefitness.co.uk or visiting @drinclusivefitness on Instagram.
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