Fitness For All: Inside Improvements Needed for Gym Accessibility

The benefits of exercise and physical activity are undisputed: better sleep, improved mood, increased energy, and even lower risk of certain diseases.

William "Beck" Schutte '26 is passionate about fitness and its many benefits, and you’ll often find him working out in the Joanne Chouinard-Luth Recreation and Wellness Center or the Loyola Fitness Studio. He likes to lift weights, run on the treadmill or ride an exercise bike. And not only does he love to work out, but he wants others to experience the benefits, too — especially people with physical disabilities.

An internship at the Institute for Human-Centered Design in Boston in 2023 got him thinking about the accessibility of gyms and other workout spaces.

“One thing I took away from the internship is that outdoor spaces can really only be so accessible. If you look at a walking trail, you can’t have an ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] bathroom or bench every 15 yards. But there’s no reason why a gym couldn’t be more accessible,” Schutte says. “But the research that I’ve found so far [indicates] that broadly, people with disabilities don’t feel represented and able to fully access public gyms. And I felt like there was a bit of a gap in the research. If outdoor spaces aren’t accessible, and indoor spaces aren’t accessible, how do people exercise with a disability?”

Schutte is exploring that question during the summer of 2024 in the College’s Weiss Summer Research Program, collecting research and writing a 15- to 20-page literature review paper on the topic. Not only is his research aptly timed with the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, but it also has a personal connection, as Schutte is visually impaired.

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Schutte's research discovered that gym equipment can be partially accessible, which puts disabled people at a disadvantage at the gym.

He’s independent and navigates Mount St. James on his own, without the assistance of a cane, and says that most people don’t even realize he’s visually impaired until he shares that fact. But in the gym, his visual impairment means that he can relate to the barriers that people with physical disabilities might experience.

“What I have found is that ADA compliance does not mean that it is accessible,” says Schutte, who reads and writes in Braille for his academic assignments, and uses a program that translates his work into print for his professors.

“The ADA was created in 1990, and then, in 2010, they updated some of the standards and gyms were included in that update. One thing I’ve found recently is that the physical equipment doesn’t necessarily have to be completely accessible, which has been credited with putting disabled people at a disadvantage in the gym."

For the purposes of Schutte’s project, the term “gym” broadly encompasses workout spaces, including fitness centers, college recreation centers, physical therapy offices, yoga studios and other exercise class spaces. In his research, he cited two studies that used the AIMFREE tool, which analyzes the ADA compliance and general accessibility of fitness centers. Of the spaces analyzed in those two studies, 0% were fully ADA compliant.

He also found that people with physical disabilities report difficulty using gym equipment, in addition to feelings of judgement or discrimination and higher levels of anxiety or depression. Plus, they also incur greater costs, because they often need to pay for personal training sessions to be able to properly access the equipment. Fitness trainers also cite a lack of access to trainings about how they can better work with people with disabilities.

Not only is compliance an issue in workout spaces, but the ADA itself needs revising, Schutte says: “The ADA hasn’t been updated in 15 years. And in the last 15 years, we’ve seen massive technological advancements in general, not just in gyms and workout equipment.”

In his paper, Schutte calls for greater use of the AIMFREE tool to assess workout spaces, as well as increased education for inclusive personal training.

Schutte’s advisor on this project is Neal Lipsitz, the College’s associate dean for student wellbeing, director of student accessibility services and distinguished visiting lecturer in the psychology department. Lipsitz sees the potential for Schutte’s research to have a broad impact.

“Gyms aren’t paying a whole lot of attention to people with disabilities. If a person with a mobility issue goes to the gym, how included do they feel? How much belonging do they have within that workout community?” Lipsitz says. “Beck’s research could one day possibly help people feel more comfortable more comfortable going to gyms, working out, being active. It’s not just our campus or just college campuses, it’s every kind of workout facility. And we know that activity and recreation and working out helps us be healthier, and happier, people.”

In addition to this research, Schutte also led the creation of a student accessibility advisory board (SAAB) for the College. He says it’s important for people with physical disabilities to be able to share their experience firsthand with decision makers.

“I decided to come to Holy Cross, even knowing that I would have some challenges with the physical layout — there’s a lot of stairs. I just felt a strong connection with the community on campus. We put some black tape at the top of stairs so I can navigate around,” he says. “It’s a continual process of rethinking and reshaping what accessibility is and what can and can’t be done, and trying to create an experience for myself that is the same as my other peers. And hopefully trying to do that for other people with disabilities who desire to be fit and healthy at gyms, creating opportunity for myself and others.”

Lipsitz has also overseen Schutte’s work with the accessibility board and says, “Beck is an inspiration with respect to encouraging other people to speak up about their needs and give us feedback, as college administrators, on what we can do to make Holy Cross as accessible as possible for everybody.”

A student in the College Honors Program, Schutte is majoring in sociology with a minor in rhetoric, and is also a peer wellness coach and co-chair of SAAB. He plans to continue his research about accessibility in the future: “I feel a sense of purpose in trying to create more welcoming gym environments, so all can have an equal opportunity towards pursuing their wellbeing goals."