Training at the gym used to be a frustrating experience for Emily Grodin.
Grodin, who has non-verbal autism, found box gyms inaccessible and trainers ill-equipped to work with someone with a disability.
She struggled to create a daily fitness routine because of these experiences.
But then, a few years ago, she discovered ZOOZ Fitness, an inclusive gym in Encino, California.
“I like everything I have accomplished so far,” Grodin typed through an iPad, which then repeated her sentence out loud. “ZOOZ helped me be more consistent. I have seen amazing results, and it motivates me to remain active.”
Grodin takes one-on-one training sessions at ZOOZ twice a week. Her favorite exercises are the stationary bike and push-ups. Besides the fitness aspect, she’s found community and friendship at the gym.
“All the trainers are great, and they accommodate all of us depending on our needs,” she said. “We feel welcomed here, and no one is judging us.”
ZOOZ Fitness is the brainchild of Jake Weiner, a self-described athlete and lover of sports and fitness. After majoring in psychology in college and most of his career, Weiner worked with people with disabilities in public and private schools, nonprofits, and respite capacity. He provided people with disabilities life and social skills and community-based programming.
He kept noticing something alarming as his career progressed.
“These individuals were very sedentary and did not have opportunities to move their bodies,” Weiner said. “So over the years, I just kept thinking, I love to exercise. I love to train. And there’s a huge need for this community. Why is no one doing this?.”
According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), one in four people in the United States has a disability, and aerobic, or cardiovascular, physical activity is non-existent for nearly half the country’s disabled adults.
Weiner decided to take the reins and venture into this uncharted territory, hoping to get more people with disabilities moving.
Ultimately, ZOOZ Fitness was born. ZOOZ is a Hebrew word meaning ‘move’ in English.
Weiner got certified in personal training, and in 2015, he began building his business. He began with only a few clients and would train them in community centers and parks. But as news spread about Weiner and ZOOZ, his clientele list grew. More and more parents of people with disabilities and disabled athletes called; they all wanted to train at ZOOZ Fitness.
What began with just a few families has flourished to over 150 families. That number continues to grow as ZOOZ partners with other organizations to train people with disabilities in different settings, including camps. Because of the fast-growing number of people wanting to train at ZOOZ, Weiner eventually opened up a brick-and-mortar location in Encino. Here, people with disabilities utilize ZOOZ for private and group sessions, a boxing program for people with Parkinson’s disease, and an adapted martial arts program.
“There’s a huge gap in fitness and folks with disabilities, and I just, you know, tried to bridge that gap,” Weiner said.
Although stressful, the pandemic ended up being a blessing in disguise for ZOOZ.
As the Covid-19 virus spread, ZOOZ was forced to close its doors. This reality was tough on Weiner and the disabled athletes he trained. He was left unemployed, and dozens of people with disabilities lost their routine of coming to the gym – a place they found release – a home away from home.
Weiner quickly pivoted and took ZOOZ virtual; it was a saving grace for him and his athletes. To this day, ZOOZ still offers virtual classes, allowing more people with disabilities – including people out of state – to take classes at the gym.
Since the brick-and-mortar store reopened, some ZOOZ athletes have chosen to take in-person and online classes, including Sivan Buchinsky, an athlete with Down syndrome.
“ZOOZ Fitness is about having fun, being motivated, exercising, having a healthy start to your life, and just having good friends and supporters around,” Buchinsky said.
ZOOZ provides a gym experience for people with all disabilities – including mental, developmental, physical, and sensory impairments. And since the gym opened, Weiner said, he’s seen immense changes in his athletes, including weight loss, improved self-esteem, and confidence. But he believes fitness and time at the gym help his athletes more than just physically.
“For some folks with disabilities, eye contact is a big challenge, so we sometimes train with a med ball. I’m throwing that person the ball, and they are kind of forced to look at it in some capacity – look in a general direction, so they don’t get hit with the ball,” Weiner explained.
“So a lot of skills that you might see this population lacking, we can build those skills with exercise equipment.”
Weiner said some people who visit ZOOZ, including parents and athletes, are surprised that it’s a “real gym” with equipment found in box gyms and fitness centers. It’s a stigma about inclusive gyms that Weiner hopes to break.
His goal is for ZOOZ to be in every city and for other gyms to use ZOOZ as an example of what they should be – inclusive of the entire population. He also hopes to create a program to educate trainers about working with people with disabilities.
“We don’t want you to think of anything else other than a real gym space. We have all the same equipment. How we break down movements is the only different thing,” Weiner said. “I firmly believe that this population, folks with disabilities, deserve every right that everyone else does. For me, I don’t feel like I’m doing something overly special. Just because a person has a disability doesn’t mean anything. It means they have a disability.
“Fitness has an incredible way of breaking down these barriers.”