A study conducted by disability inclusion researcher Marina Logacheva has found that gyms, fitness environments and leisure centres can become far more accessible and welcoming for people with disabilities. Drawing on international examples of best practice, her findings highlight practical changes that help create more inclusive spaces for everyone.
In this article, Marina shares a summary of her research, including how it all began and her findings into how fitness environments can be inclusive, with detailed accessibility information, disability confident staff training and disability representation in marketing.
How did this research into accessible fitness begin?
Fitness should be a space where people feel confident, supported and welcome. Yet for many people with disabilities, fitness environments can still feel difficult to access, uncomfortable or not designed with them in mind.
I am a disability inclusion adviser working across sport, fitness and marketing. I am also a wheelchair user, a competitive handcyclist, and a Churchill Fellow.
I became disabled following a spinal cord injury in 2020 and am tetraplegic. Before my injury, I worked in marketing for more than 15 years, and fitness and sport were a huge part of my life, including running, swimming, cycling and long-distance triathlon.
After becoming a wheelchair user, I experienced first-hand how difficult it can be to return to fitness when environments, staff training and communications are not designed with disabled people in mind.
Through my Churchill Fellowship, I am researching inclusive fitness environments in Australia, the USA and Canada, to help gyms, leisure centres and fitness professionals create more accessible, welcoming and inclusive experiences for people with disabilities.
The first stage of my research took me to Australia, where I spent four weeks visiting Sydney, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne.
During the trip, I met with more than 50 organisations across the fitness, leisure, disability sport, education and health sectors. This included commercial and public gyms, personal trainers, leisure operators, physiotherapy services, disability sport organisations, universities, national bodies, mainstream fitness conferences and people with lived experience of disability.
Read: The Marginalisation Of Disability In Media Studies
How can gyms and leisure centres become more accessible for people with disabilities?
My research focused on three main questions: how can physical spaces become more accessible, how can staff become more confident supporting people with disabilities, and how can marketing and communications make people feel represented and welcome before they even enter a facility?
One of the clearest findings was that inclusive fitness does not need to be overcomplicated. The strongest examples were not always the most expensive or the most polished. They were organisations that treated disability inclusion as part of customer experience, staff training, marketing, programming and community engagement.
Accessibility is also about much more than ramps, lifts and changing rooms. Physical access is vital, but inclusion starts much earlier in the customer journey. It starts when someone visits a website, looks at social media, tries to find access information, contacts reception or wonders whether staff will know how to support them.
For many people with disabilities, uncertainty is one of the biggest barriers. Will I be able to get through the door? Is there accessible parking? Will the equipment work for me? Will staff be awkward? Will I be safe? Will I feel welcome?
The research also highlighted the importance of staff disability confidence. Staff do not need to have all the answers or become clinical specialists, but they do need to feel confident communicating respectfully, asking useful questions, making simple adaptations and focusing on what someone wants to achieve rather than assuming what they cannot do.
Representation also matters. When people with disabilities are absent from gym marketing, websites and member stories, it can signal that the space is not for them. Visible, authentic representation helps people feel welcome before they even enter the building.
My report includes practical recommendations for gyms and leisure centres, including creating clear accessibility information online, training reception teams, reviewing imagery, auditing equipment, and building partnerships with disability organisations.
The commercial case is also clear. People with disabilities are not a niche audience. In the UK, one in four people has a disability. Many want to be more active but still face barriers to participation. Inclusive fitness is not only the right thing to do; it is also an opportunity for operators to reach new members, improve retention and build stronger community connections.
Ultimately, the goal is simple: to make fitness environments places where people with disabilities are not treated as an inconvenience, but welcomed as valued members of the community.
My research is still ongoing, with the next stage taking me to Canada and the USA to explore further examples of best practice. I hope these international insights will continue to support gyms, leisure centres and fitness professionals to take practical steps towards more accessible, inclusive and welcoming fitness environments.
Read Marina Logacheva’s research report: Creating Welcoming Fitness Environments
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