Kim (00:02)
Hello, this is Kim Wardlow. I am your host for Navigating Life with Vision Loss brought to you by Aftersight. We are in the midst of our 16-week series on sports. And today I'm happy to have with me Jared Ciner from Spirit Club. I know you've been on before, maybe last year on the show, but I'm excited to have you back.
And I know just a couple of weeks ago, you opened a new location here in the Denver area. So thanks for joining me, Jared.
Jared (00:41)
Yes, of course. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here with you.
Kim (00:46)
And we always appreciate those of you who are listening to us, of course, on Spotify or Apple iTunes or any of the podcast platforms. But I do want to let you know that we are actually adding now some video for our YouTube channel. So if you go to YouTube, you can listen to this podcast, but it will have some video with it as well. And just to recognize that vision loss is a whole spectrum. So there may be some folks that would
like to be able to see video as well as listen to the podcast. that is available to you on our YouTube channel. Church, you want to just tell folks a little bit about Spirit Club and you know, the, concept of Spirit Club.
Jared (01:32)
Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ the goal of spirit club is to create a space and opportunity where everybody could feel comfortable with fitness and exercise and, feel able to work on their fitness goals. And I think, having worked as a personal trainer in a gym, as well as working as a support counselor with adults with disabilities, it's clear that not
everybody really has those avenues or opportunities. And so Spirit Club is just here to make sure we can meet everybody where they are and ⁓ give people the opportunity to exercise and move and make some progress towards their goals to be more physically fit and healthy.
Kim (02:19)
And sometimes that's what it is all about. Folks are just trying to get back into moving or starting to do exercise for the first time. And that's what we're going to focus on in this episode. I know it's titled from, from clubs to Paralympics. We do have a, another episode that talks a lot about Paralympics, but this episode is mostly going to be focused on, ⁓
how you begin to move and kind of that pathway. Not everybody wants to be a Paralympian, but and you don't have to you don't have to continue on that road to that point. But ⁓ even if that is your goal, everyone has to start somewhere. so yeah, and why does movement matter? I mean, obviously, there's physical fitness. But but just getting getting moving is important and maintaining
movement throughout your life.
Jared (03:21)
Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ I think everybody moves in their own way, right? And movement is something different for every person. ⁓ But for all of us, moving has its own value and its own level of importance. And I think there's, you you could focus on kind of the functionality of it and how being, you know, the movement
that our bodies allow us to do just opens up so many doors, right? And it's different for everybody, right? So for one person, right, it's, you know, gardening is something that's so, you know, fun and provides some soothing, you know, mental health opportunities. And you want to be able to do that physically. And for other people, it might be, you know, just being able to pick something up off the ground or...
get up and down off the ground or reach up to grab something or tie your shoe. And for everybody, it's different, whether it's an intensive athletic goal that you want to be able to do or just basic day-to-day maintenance and functional abilities. so I think there's just maintaining your functional abilities and developing your functional abilities through movement has such a huge impact.
⁓ And then, I mean, I think the next big thing is your physical health, right? I mean, if you are sedentary and not moving, you'll see that ⁓ impact your health negatively. And, you know, on the contrary, the more physical, physically active you are in ways that are functional and safe, the healthier you become, ⁓ you know, for your body, right? So just for you to maintain and improve your physical health.
we have to be moving. And then, you know, I think the third big thing is your mental health, right? Which ties right into your physical health. you know, when you don't move, you feel lethargic, increased risk of depression, anxiety. And again, on the other side of that, when you move, you feel confident and proud and happy. And, you know, you literally release endorphins into your brain that make you feel good.
It's like a magic pill. You don't need to, you know, take a pill to feel better. I mean, for some people we do, but ⁓ no matter who you are, the more physically active you are, the more that contributes to positive mental health. you know, maintaining your functional abilities, being physically healthy, being mentally and emotionally healthy, all of those things are, you know,
significantly improved through moving.
Kim (06:20)
And certainly if you are interested in participating in some type of team sports, recreational sports, feeling like you are physically fit enough to do that and be on a team, I could see where that is important as well. What are barriers for folks to get started, especially if they are somewhere on that spectrum of low vision up to blindness?
Jared (06:47)
Yeah, and just to follow up on that last point, I think you bring up a really great one. When it comes to movement and exercise, of course there's sports and recreational activities, which offers so many social opportunities too, right? And you talked about functionality, physical health, mental health. Having social opportunities and a way to build community, you know, contributes across the board there as well. And so certainly,
having the confidence to go and do that and use sports and recreation and exercise as a way to navigate your way into having more social and community opportunities is huge as well. ⁓ building the network, right? It's something you look forward to. I got really into playing pickleball recently and it's like, I love the sport and the physical activity of it, but
Kim (07:30)
Don't that network.
Jared (07:43)
For sure, I look forward to seeing people at the same time. I'm like, I have a buddy who plays pickleball. I want to text him, hey, are you going to be there today? And it's a total secondary benefit that you don't even, and for some people, maybe it's the primary, right? For some people, maybe it's, I want to use this kickball league as a way to build friends. For other people, it's, I love playing a sport and, ⁓ look, I made friends along the way.
Huge benefits and yeah, the barriers are for sure exists, right? I think for a lot of people, there's the confidence, right? Feeling like, I able to do this, right? Is this something that I can handle? I remember trying to get my mom to start working out more. I remember she said, you know, I need to get in better shape before I start going to the gym. And I was like, mom, that's the opposite.
Kim (08:42)
while you go to the gym.
Jared (08:44)
Yeah, and so many people think that and whether it's doing recreational activity, right? I think a lot of people might think, oh, I need to, you know, I can't go do a play sports until I get a little more fit. And it's like, okay, yes, from a safety standpoint, you do have to make sure you're not going to put yourself at a high risk of injury and do something you're not ready to do. But you need to take that first step and understand that being physically active is how you get yourself more fit.
right, and more capable. I think there's a lack of confidence that might be a real barrier to stop people, right, or people who are blind or of low vision who might say, I can't do a fitness program or I can't go play a sport due to, ⁓ you know, due to the challenges that that might pose. ⁓ And I mean, those challenges are real. And I think for sure, you need to make sure there's ⁓
community resources that are accommodating and adaptive and kind of supporting the needs of the community so that those barriers don't stay in the way and aren't legitimate reasons why people don't get involved.
Kim (09:56)
Yeah, I think so many people have this fear of going to the gym, of what will people think of how I look, or I'm just starting out. I'm not, you I'm going to look silly because I don't know how to use everything. But really, you just have to begin somewhere. And if you go somewhere where there is a person that can help you and is ⁓ ideally trained, if
not specifically trained, at least willing to work with you and adapting things and helping ⁓ fill in pieces for you in terms of visual loss and giving descriptions and things like that. What does that look like? What does accessible fitness look like? And obviously, again, I realize that varies from person to person.
but what can that look like?
Jared (10:57)
Yeah, yeah, that definitely does vary, but I think there are some universal concepts that make fitness more accessible across the board, right? ⁓ Certainly making sure that from a physical standpoint, everybody is able to succeed and participate and accomplish whatever the exercises or physical activities are, right? So making sure that
Just at a very basic level, the physical demands of the activities are attainable and have the proper modification. So, right, if somebody thinks, I have to be at this level in order to go and be successful at the gym, and they go to the gym and they're right, and they join a class where they just can't keep up, or they can't lift up the weights that are being asked of them, you know, then from a physical standpoint,
you know, that program needs to be better modified and make sure that you can physically do it. And I think that's on the, you know, community programs to meet people where they are and to make sure that there's always those modifications that people can physically be successful in the exercises and the activities. And then there's the, the instructional approach, right? So sometimes it's not that we can't physically do an activity, but we just don't know
how to do the activity. And I think a lot of times, maybe people are expected to jump in and figure it out. And if you're blind or have low vision or a different type of disability, maybe that's not something that you're able to just figure it out on your own. And you need that program to offer more verbal descriptions, right? Or simplify the movements and exercises so they can be followed. ⁓
and or maybe having, you know, physical, you know, more like tactile approaches to the instructions where rather than, you know, just, you know, do a squat, right? Where you're like, I don't know how to do a squat. And, and even if you add the verbal description, right? ⁓ push your hips back, right? Keep your knees behind your toes, keep your, you know, your back parallel to your shins. I mean, that's like so much instruction that's so hard to follow versus
⁓ there's, you know, here's a chair behind you, lower yourself back and sit down in the chair and stand back up. Right? Well, now you can feel something there. Your body can give you some feedback on when have I completed this exercise and what do I do next? And, and it mimics or translates into a functional movement that we've all done before. Right? If that's something that you're able to do. And now all of a sudden a squat is very easy.
Right, you're taking a very complicated, nuanced, abstract, difficult to explain movement and you're saying, sit down in the chair and stand back up. And you're turning it into a very simple, straightforward, two-step familiar movement ⁓ that you could feel, okay, my butt just touched the chair. I'm down as far as I go and now I stand up. Right, so.
So I think making sure people can physically participate, making sure people can understand and follow the instructions. And I think probably the third thing is making sure that there's something enjoyable and fun about it, right? Otherwise, who's going to want to do it and come back? So incorporating social opportunities, making sure people have a chance to connect with other people in a program or in an activity and don't just leave that up to someone.
to have to figure out how to navigate that on their own. Making activities that have fun, know, teamwork, competition, ⁓ music, know, time-based activities where you can try to beat your time, partner, you know, interactive exercises and activities. So I think that's, those are probably the big three is, know, can I do it physically, right? Can I follow along and do I understand what I'm supposed to be doing?
And am I motivated to be here? Is this fun and enjoyable? And do I have the motivation and am I engaged in this activity? Is it something that is holding my attention and making me want to come back? And I think if you do those three things, then you really open the door and offer this kind of universal design to include everybody in the activities.
Kim (15:44)
Yeah, I just want to follow up for a moment when you were talking about using the chair, some of those tactile reference points that can be used to adapt different exercises. people might think, well, so I get up and down from a chair, but that really is mimicking what you do in a squat and that correct position and all of those things. I know you've talked about also exercises that
might say, well, raise your hands above your head. And I could raise my hand above my head, like just barely with my elbow bent. But what you're really wanting the person to do is to really stretch high and lift their arm as, you know, as high as they're able. and I know I've heard you talk about an adaptation to help people do that simply without having to have a lot of description.
Jared (16:38)
Yeah, I think there's kind of two paths to getting those instructions out clearly. One is really comprehensive verbal description, which is very helpful. ⁓ And the other is something tangible, right? Something you can touch, right? Like a squat is a great example with the chair, right? I could feel that I'm sitting, I'm at the bottom of my squat. And now I could feel that I'm standing upright, I'm at the top of my squat.
And certainly, think wanting to utilize both of those tools and strategies. But, you know, the more, ⁓ the more you could balance it, I think the better, right? Sometimes it's hard with all this auditory input of, of knowing how to follow along, like the squat as the example, I could tell you how to do a squat, but it might take me like, ⁓ you know, two minutes to explain it. And it's going to be very complicated and hard to actually understand what, what you're supposed to do based off of just that.
that verbal input. So yeah, the more you could incorporate physical things into it, certainly the better, right? Like I remember we created kind of like a little fitness tool where it's like a goose neck, ⁓ bendable, flexible, like long ⁓ neck with like a target, like a boxing mitt on the other side, like a shadow boxing mitt that you could touch and you could
stretch it up and say, know, stand up tall and touch that mitt, right? Touch that kind of like shadow boxing mitt. And then you could bend it down, right? And put it down towards your toes and say, okay, reach down and touch it. So that is so helpful for engagement and getting people engaged and able to say, okay, I, right. It's not just reach your hands up, right? Where just, you know, your hand slightly above your head is up, but it's, I'm not done until I touch this, right? And you know, okay, I touched it. I get that.
feedback in my body and I know I'm done. So definitely incorporating that wherever you can. And a lot of people benefit from that with another person, right? Like if you're doing personal training, the trainers will just stand there and say, hey, touch my hands, high five, right? Okay, let me put my hands down by your feet. Now touch my hands down here, reach down, keep going until you touch my hands. And that's really, really valuable, I think, to have that level of support and including those tactile kind of
⁓ strategies and techniques into movement.
Kim (19:12)
And it can help with form so that you're doing things in appropriate ⁓ form, not just to be correct, but that can help get you the most out of the exercise. But it also can help avoid injury if you're doing things and allowing your ankle to twist out or something instead of keeping it straight, those kinds of things. So I could see where some of those adaptations can help with the form as well.
Jared (19:41)
Absolutely, absolutely. And I think they help with making the activities functional as well, right? Because you can say, ⁓ so I'm sitting down in a chair and standing up, right? And, and yes, and now you can actually understand why am I doing this? Because I think a lot of exercise is kind of like, might feel a little obscure or like, what am I doing? Right? Especially
Kim (20:08)
I'm never gonna do this in my real life. Exactly.
Jared (20:10)
Like what muscles am I working here? And also like in what context am I working these muscles? And how does that relate to real life? Like especially a lot of gyms that have a lot of machines are tough to kind of always see why am I doing this? I think one of my ⁓ mentors in the early days, his name is David Jacobs, taught me like feet on the ground exercises where it's like, obviously it doesn't apply.
across the board, for a lot of people, you want your feet on the ground and you want to be able to move your body in real, in an authentic way. So if I'm sticking my legs into a machine and I'm extending and kicking my feet out and I'm, you know, strengthening up my quads, that's great. And you are strengthening your quads, but in what framework and in what context, right? It's like, you're going to be able to kick a soccer ball really far if you can do it, if you can do that, but
When else do we take our legs from a bent position and straighten them without actually, you know, from a seated position, right? ⁓ Not much, right? Not much, but you can strengthen your quads by standing, sitting down in a chair and standing up and you want to make it harder, you could grab some weight, right? Hold onto some weight. You could have a chair, little, you could use a little step that's lower than a chair to increase your range of motion and make it a little more challenging to get yourself back up.
And so now we're saying, why am I doing this? And it's because you want to maintain your ability to get up and down out of a chair, right? We're all, we all age and doing these things gets harder and harder. And the last thing you want to do is have to, you know, transition from being able to stand up on your own to needing to, know, I can only sit in a chair with armrests. So could push myself out or I need somebody who's going to help pull me out of the chair because my legs aren't going to get me out. Right. Right. That chair is a little too low for me. I'm not sure I'm to be able to get up out of it.
And so that's really what exercise is at the end of the day, is practicing the real life movements we do. And if you can't say, ⁓ I'm doing this because it helps me with this in my day to day life, then maybe you need to kind of refine the workout program that you're focusing on.
Kim (22:26)
Right. Well, I had an instructor talk about doing ab work and doing standing ab work. and it wasn't, she wasn't saying never lay down and do crunches again, but she was saying, but when you think about it, we want strong abs when we're standing up and moving and doing things, not just when we're laying down. And so, you know, having, having some exercises, ab exercises that actually
increase your strength while you're standing, you know, it's beneficial. And it made sense then, well, why are we doing this?
Yeah, so I think that's important and it can help people stay motivated if they understand how the exercise is helping them or why you might want to exercise and move some muscles that you don't normally just because of how everything is connected.
Jared (23:26)
It does, yeah. And you know what really helps you stay motivated is when you're out of the gym and you notice moving throughout my day to day life is easier now. That's where you're really motivated. And if you don't feel it, if you're not doing the exercises that relate to your day to day life, then you won't feel that. And then you'll start questioning, well, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? So yeah, very motivating to come out and say, oh, wow, I just realized that I got up out of my chair a lot easier than I usually do.
And you can say you can attribute it to the exercise that you do in the gym.
Kim (24:01)
Bye.
Let's go back to what you started to talk about was things being fun and the social interaction and how that can be incorporated in the gym.
Jared (24:19)
Yeah, well, I think that being fun and motivated, having fun and, you know, having that motivation is key, right? I talk to our trainers all the time where you could push somebody really hard in a workout and get them to do everything you want them to do. But if you feel overwhelmed or overworked or you're not enjoying yourself, you might never, they might never come back. But if you kind of meet that person at the level where they are that day,
make sure that they're pushing themselves, but also enjoying themselves, not feeling, you know, overworked, then they'll come back the next week and the next week and it becomes a habit. And so you have to think about the long-term goal of making exercise a lifestyle, not just, got a great workout today, but now I never want to do it again. Yeah. know, and so, ⁓ so I think sports are huge, right? Adding sports in, I always, always want to know what's your favorite sport.
Even if you're coming to the gym, you want to work out, you want to improve your balance, your strength, lose weight. That's great. ⁓ but also like what's fun for you, right? How can we incorporate some type of movement activity? So we're staying true to why we're here, but also at the highest level of interest and fun. So we always want to know what are your interests? What are your hobbies? What are your favorite sports? What are your favorite activities?
and find ways to incorporate that into movement. And it's not always easy. Some people might be like, ⁓ I love video games and watching movies. It's like, ⁓ okay, well, what's your favorite movie? What's your favorite video game? Maybe we could take something from that and build it into this program. they say, you love superhero movies? Cool. Let's build a little exercise that's like a superhero themed exercise, right? ⁓
Kim (26:12)
That was very cool, I had not thought about that.
Jared (26:14)
Yeah, know, just ways to make it fun. and, know, a lot of people, a lot of people go towards sports for that. I sports are so much more, so much more fun than lifting weights is playing basketball and you can get outside and, know, but then you could take basketball and build fitness into that too. You know, it doesn't mean you're just standing at the free throw line and shooting, right. But you can say, okay, great. Part of basketball is playing defense, right? You got to be able to move side to side.
Kim (26:28)
You can get outside often.
Jared (26:45)
You have to have good balance. You have to have good endurance, good agility, ability to change directions. You know, so let's do some drills relating to basketball that are going to be much more about, that are going to relate a lot more to your general and overall physical fitness. So you can go both ways. You could take somebody who loves sports and make, you know, build fitness into it, or you could take somebody who, you know, who doesn't want to do any athletics and take their hobbies and build a program into that. So a lot of directions you can go to try to just
incorporate hobbies into a exercise program for sure.
Kim (27:20)
Well, and you alluded to how frequently we look at folks that, you know, ask folks if they're starting a fitness program. Are you a beginner? Are you intermediate? Are you advanced? And placing people into these groups are buckets. And I know the approach you have at Spirit Club and that you advocate for is a much more tailored approach of meeting people where they are and not just saying, well, if you're a beginner, you're here.
If you're intermediate, well then you should be able to do all these things. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
Jared (27:55)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, I think that beginner intermediate advanced is helpful when it comes to, you know, your comfort level in the gym, but still is going to vary so much on where you can have somebody who works out in the gym frequently. ⁓ But, know, may may have a lot of different types of modifications or accommodations that they might need, you know, for the duration of their lifetime. And that doesn't mean that you're to throw them into a
⁓ a generic class, right? Like you still are gonna, we still are gonna want to make sure, you know, we want the trainer to modify and adapt and tailor our program to us. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think knowing that's helpful, but it's just a small piece of the understanding of, you know, that overarching assessment of understanding. Who are you? You know, what are you comfortable with? What do you like? What are your interests? What are your hobbies? How do you move right now? How do you want to move down the road?
You know, what are your goals? What do you want to get better at? What do you do on a day-to-day basis that maybe you don't even realize includes movement? You don't even realize exercise can help make that hobby or your job easier, you know, make you more capable of performing those ⁓ activities or responsibilities, right? Maybe it's doing the dishes, right? Maybe it's taking care of, you know, playing with your grandkids. ⁓
And these are things that people might see as a hobby and might not even realize, if I don't exercise in a targeted way, I might not be able to do this for that much longer. Or maybe there are some things I could be doing that I'm not able to do now that I can't prove. ⁓ So I think, yeah, so much of it is meeting people who there and just understanding. Usually the first time we ever meet anybody, it's just about getting to know them on that very deep level of, how do you move today? How do you want to move?
What do you like to do that you can't do right now? What do you like to do that you can do now that you want to make sure you can continue to do? Yeah. And why is this important to you? What's your emotional connection to this stuff? So someone might say, ⁓ want to be fit and healthy. I want to lose weight. The biggest question we ask is why? Why is that important to you? ⁓ I know it's important. ⁓ The doctor told me I need to do it. OK.
But why? Why is it important for you to be healthy? Okay, well, well, I'm a parent, right? I have kids. Okay, well now we're getting to real motivation. And that's what gets people to stay with something, is know, people are, someone else is depending on me, or I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my ability to do these very important things in my life. And you know, we need to have that emotional incentive and connection to anything we do in order for it to become a habit.
Right? If you don't actually feel emotionally connected to an activity in your life, it's not going to last. So I think that's a really important part when someone's getting started is helping them understand why this is important to them. Not just because my doctor said so, but on an emotional level. Why do you care what your doctor says? Why do you want to be healthy? And that's really where you get to, because now it's not, my trainer's helping me be healthy. It's my trainer's helping me be there for my kids long-term.
Right, my trainer's helping me be able to play with my grandkids as I get older. My trainer's me not be at risk of a stroke or a heart attack, reducing my risk so that I can be with my family. And that's where I think people really start to understand the importance and the value of being active.
Kim (31:49)
I'd to talk a little bit about the importance of having local clubs, local accessible spaces, community programs. ⁓ I know Spirit Club has online things as well. You can do different exercise routines online. And that's wonderful because sometimes it can be really hard to get to a place. Transportation might be an issue.
Those options are always good to have, but I feel for social, for other reasons, having those local community places are important. And where do you see that with the folks you serve? Because I know you have both.
Jared (32:38)
Yeah, I think that ⁓ giving different options to support people is really important. So some people might want to do it online for the convenience. Some people might want to train or to come to their house, you know, so they don't have transportation or don't feel comfortable in a big social gym setting. And some people want to come out into the community and that, you know, that'll help them achieve their social and community.
you know, community-based goals as well, you know. Getting out of the house is a big goal for a lot of people. Meeting new people, learning how to be more comfortable in social situations. So, for a lot of people that's a huge, a huge goal. Especially a lot of, like organizations, know, day programs, day services that we work with are really shifting towards needing to be out in community-based integrated environments. Rather than, you know,
in a facility or at home all day. And so I think that is a great way to merge fitness with meaningful community activities. And I think that's where you really see people kind of being a little struck by what could be. ⁓
Everyone knows a trainer could come to your house, right? And it's very valuable, but it's not the same thing as being out in the community, especially for a lot of people who don't have a lot of access or opportunities to be out in the community in a new, know, innovative way, like fitness, like a gym setting. And I remember at the Spirit Club open house in Denver, you know, just last week,
It was last week. that was, you know, spirit clubs been around in Maryland for 14 years, but, you know, having just opened in Denver, um, you know, I was, teaching a demo class and I brought my co-founder Sam who helped start spirit club. I probably talked about him here before he's a marathon runner. He's ran seven marathons. He also has autism and, uh, you know, has, has overcome.
so much and has used exercise and fitness and running as a tool for him. And he's such a great role model for others. And now he's a certified trainer and he trains other people. And he was teaching this class, I was kind of, know, help assisting. And it was a lot of people's first time there. you know, different ages, right, teens, adults, different ability levels, some people with autism, know, low vision. ⁓
you know, in a wheelchair, just a wide range of people who wanted to say, hey, I can work out too, right? With a place like Spirit Club, can be a part of this too. And I remember like right after Sam taught his first or second exercise, and I think everybody realized, this is a trainer also who has his own, who's had his own journey, right? ⁓ There's kind of just this moment of silence. Like you could hear a pin, you're in the middle of a fitness class. could kind of a pin.
Yeah, and I looked around and I just saw kind of this like twinkle in everyone's eye. It was just like kind of looking around and it just had this feeling people were like, you know, what is this place? You know, like, what like it's something magical when you combine the community component with the fitness because there's places you can go in the community that are accessible and adapt, you know, and and and, you know, tailored to support people.
but I don't think that it exists much in the fitness world, right? Of course there's great exceptions to that rule, but they're not prevalent. when you see, you know, when people come in and they're like, whoa, like we're working out, like, hey, my son or daughter is doing the exercises. And like, I never thought he or she could, right? Or somebody themselves like, hey, I'm following along.
This trainer is, they're teaching exercises I can do. I never thought I can go join a group fitness class at a gym and feel comfortable and be able to do it and feel supported and not feel judged or disabled, but actually feel truly included and integrated and successful. I think there's something very special about it. And that's where I get my motivation, where I'm like, this is what it's all about.
Kim (37:28)
⁓ And for those who do want to move beyond just a recreational or a casual level and are using fitness, ⁓ like you said, with your co-founder, he runs marathons that they're wanting to do something more competitive or, or beyond that, that those community places are wonderful for helping to start and continuing to support. mean, you do.
You do see that with athletes at times they talk about, they're, you know, the gym where they first started to train and now they're, you know, doing this, but all those folks are still kind of emotionally, you know, backing them and, and cheering them on. So I could see that that can help carry somebody through as well. If they're wanting to move, move beyond, ⁓ just a recreational kind of level and, and do.
more serious competitive types of sports.
Jared (38:30)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's a lot of great examples of that, right? Like Sam is a really strong example of a person with autism who's ran seven more marathons than I'll probably ever run. And we have a trainer named Dion, who's, he had a awesome video made about him recently. He has cerebral palsy and is like an amateur Muay Thai fighter. Like he goes in a ring and like,
fights competitively with people who, you know, don't have any, you know, diagnosed disabilities. I think he's, you know, pretty unique in that. And he's just like, he refers to himself as the cerebral palsy warrior. And he is, you know, and he has, he has, you know, members who he trains. He does personal training and he teaches, you know, self-defense classes who also have cerebral palsy or, you know, different types of.
disabilities who are like, I can do this. And they never would have thought they could without Dion as this role model. ⁓ And we have worked with the Zumba instructor, Carissa, who has Down syndrome. And she's amazing. She memorizes all these choreographed dances and leads them perfectly. And I think it's a great way to realize that not only can a person with a disability exercise, but can truly be leaders in the fitness industry as well.
Kim (39:59)
Yeah, that's important. And that might even be somebody's goal to be able to become a trainer themselves.
Jared (40:05)
Yeah, and we have a member who started recently who's, you know, he's doing personal training because he's, ⁓ you know, he's a rock climber and, you know, he's such a really awesome guy. When I first met him, he has autism, he's nonverbal and, ⁓ you know, his body just doesn't respond to his cues, right? He wants to talk, can't, right? Certain, you know, he wants to...
move his body in a controlled way, doesn't always happen. But when he climbs, it's like he's like a poet. ⁓ And yeah, like he just flies up that wall and he's very competitive with, you know, within the general climbing world. ⁓ and yes, it's really cool to see that fitness and physical activity and movement and sports and self-defense or whatever it is, dance.
speaks to people differently and the disability community is no exception to that, right? You know, there's no reason why, you know, you see, and I think it goes against, you know, assumptions or stereotypes that if you have a disability, it doesn't mean that physical activity, you can't be truly gifted at physical activity and exercise and movement or sports and athletics. And, you know, it's really cool to see that.
⁓ to see that at Spirit Club.
Kim (41:39)
George, you've given us so much information and so much guidance. Any final words for somebody who's maybe just starting out and a little nervous or wondering where to start ⁓ in their community? Or maybe somebody who was really active. And I know we see this a lot with the folks we work with in our community.
they were used to doing sports and they've lost vision and now they feel like they're almost starting over in a sense of learning how to do that. What what advice or encouragement would you give give those folks?
Jared (42:19)
Well, I would say, ⁓ you know, if you're watching this and you heard all of it so far, you probably already know what I'm going to say, but I would say, you know, try, right? There's so many times where I have talked to somebody who said, ⁓ cool idea, but you know, I can't do that. Or my son or daughter can't do that. Or, you know, my brother or sister or the client I work with, you know, yeah, they can't, they can't do it. You know, good luck.
Not like, but we can't do that. And my response is always try, right? Just try. And we've never come across somebody who's tried and then said, ⁓ you're right. I was right. I couldn't do it. Like, no, you can. You know, if you can find a way to move in a way that kind of speaks to you and a way that is just keep in mind, like movement is such a broad, there's such a broad definition to it.
There's no one size fits all that you have to be able to do in order to be successful. We worked with people who were in a wheelchair, super limited mobility, ⁓ spinal cord injury or a disability they were born with that severely limits mobility, but it doesn't mean that the way that you can move, you can't build on that. And so just think about what you can do. What are you confident doing with your movement? And even if it's something that feels very basic.
and just build on that. And if you're not sure how to do that, I mean, of course, you know, Spirit Club's here. We're in Maryland, we're in Denver, we're in DC, but we're also online. So if you're not in one of those places, you can reach out. We're building a pretty comprehensive virtual platform right now through a really great, you know, a grant through NIH that's designed to basically, you fill out an assessment about yourself and it's pretty comprehensive and it'll get to know you pretty well. And then you will receive very specific
⁓ videos like exercise classes, comprised of exercises that are very specifically tailored to meet you where you are based off of how you answered that assessment. And so you definitely can do it. You just need to find an opportunity or program that understands you and will meet you where you are. And so of course, you know, that's what Spirit Club's here for, but I'm sure there are great resources in the community as well. And if you're not sure where to start, then
Come find us and we'll help you get started.
Kim (44:49)
and folks can find you online.
Jared (44:51)
Yep, yeah, spiritclub.com will take you right to our website and you scroll to the bottom, you could, you know, send a little contact form and I get all those along with some really great team members. We'll make sure to follow up with you.
Kim (45:05)
Well, thank you so much, Jared. I too would just encourage folks, movement is a broad, broad category. So you might have to try a few things to find what's best for you, what you like the most. But I would just encourage you to do that. If you're wondering about that and want to maybe try to get out and do some movement and you're in the metro area, in the Denver metro area or nearby, I would
invite you to come to a walk. It's called Cane's Tales and Trails that AfterSight is doing in conjunction with foresight adventure guides for the blind. And that is going to be May 30th at the Cherry Creek State Park. ⁓ It's going to be a walk. ⁓ You could run if you want to, but you don't have to. It won't be
of steep or anything like we do a hike in the fall in the mountains, but I will be doing that again this year in September, but this might get you started. So you have several months to kind of get going to be ready for the hike, but we would love to see you there. ⁓ You can get information about that event and register on our website, which is aftersight.org So I'd invite you to do that. You can also.
donate to AfterSight there if you enjoy this podcast or any of our other podcasts and help us to be able to continue to provide them to you. Thank you so much for listening. Maybe you're watching on YouTube. And I hope as always that this information has helped you to navigate your life with vision loss.