Founder and Director of Definitive Progression Ignited Adaptive Fitness Devon Palermo Shares Recommendations for Expanding Adaptive Fitness Gyms Across the United States
Early on in his work as a physical therapist, Devon Palermo found himself drawn to patients with long-term disabilities. He would work with patients with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis and be inspired by the progress they made that would assist them with performing daily tasks.
After years at a rehabilitation hospital, Palermo began to work individually with clients at their homes, and the idea of creating a space specifically for adaptive fitness became a goal he slowly worked towards.
Now, Palermo is the director of Definitive Progression Ignited (DPI) Adaptive Fitness in the Washington DC area. His facilities, work ethic, experience, and mentorship have made him a leading authority in adaptive fitness techniques.
Palermo sat down with us and shared the components needed to make an adaptive fitness gym that works for people with all kinds of disabilities.
Adaptive Fitness isn’t just adapted able-bodied techniques
One of the main myths about adaptive fitness is the idea that the discipline is simply taking techniques used by able-bodied fitness coaches and adapting it for mobility issues. It is the same line of thinking that guides people to think that making a mainstream fitness gym like Planet Fitness or LA Fitness inclusive only necessitates adding a ramp and making room for wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
That is not what adaptive fitness is nor is adding a ramp to the front of a mainstream gym the way to make existing fitness centers inclusive to everyone.
The truth of adaptive fitness is making a plan for the individual. Everyone lives with their disabilities differently. Everyone has different goals. Everyone has different daily tasks they would like to achieve.
The secret is ensuring that a person with a disability stays fit and healthy without over-exerting themselves, which could lead to further injuries or regression. This delicate balance requires careful and in-depth research of the specifics of their injury or disability- whether it be a spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis. After research, an experienced physical therapist can work with the individual to set goals and a fitness plan that works best for their circumstances.
Adaptive fitness is not about pushing past restrictions and making huge mobility leaps but, instead, it’s about working within restrictions and making small improvements.
The discipline is on the rise throughout the United States, with sprawling complexes like Ability 360 popping up in Arizona and more and more students being pulled towards physical therapy with a specialty in long-term disabilities.
However, there is more to be done.
Adaptive fitness centers should be nearly as widespread as the regular fitness gyms that dot the country. One solution could be making mainstream gyms more inclusive through the education of their trainers and a redesign of the interior and the equipment to make gyms more accessible. The changes are possible, but not yet probable. For mainstream gyms to address inclusivity on a larger scale, there would have to be a social movement towards adaptive fitness by people of all ages, circumstances, and disabilities.
For Palermo, he is hopeful about the future of adaptive fitness. For now, he hopes to expand DPI by adding a non-profit arm and a virtual platform to reach the greatest amount of people he can.
Want to hear Devon Palermo speak in his own words? Listen to Traipsin’ Global on Wheel’s Podcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ETzSCBV5IE
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