Welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have discussions with individuals who are building accessible and inclusive businesses
advocating for inclusion or excelling in adaptive sports.
Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities,
but rather give them a platform to amplify their voice and ideas and help you make your business more inclusive and accessible.
Today I'm joined by Bob Mitchell of Inspirations Fitness. Bob, thanks for joining us.
Hey, thank you very much.
Alright, well maybe start back at the beginning of your fitness journey or your experience as a personal trainer.
Can you kind of give me some insight into how you got into that?
Yeah, sure. So I'll kind of give you a nutshell version because the whole story's got it. It's worth a book, I guess.
I've always been a fitness, I've been either an active athlete myself or training other people for as long as I can remember.
I worked with in substance use disorders for a while, worked with people with alcoholism and addiction issues.
And we were using fitness in that medium kind of also to kind of help them through that.
And at the time I was recovering from alcoholism myself, so it was a good fit for me to be using fitness because I had that background.
So later on in life, you know, in 2021 I became, I came with the choice to become an amputee.
And at that point I had been through about five years or so of other surgeries and pain and everything.
And everything goes along with it and we became an elective amputation.
So I just, you know, I wanted to get the leg off me.
So I did it, you know, and I made the election to have the amputation.
So the kind of, that was the catalyst, right?
The beginning of that was what I didn't know at the time was the beginning of inspiration fitness.
The reason why it all kind of came together was having a background in recovering a background in fitness.
I knew I was expecting a post amputation.
I knew what to look like, like what the next year would look like and how rehab would go.
And I had that insight, you know, for myself and I just felt like there was a gap between rehab and life.
There wasn't, there was a step there that did someone needed to step in and provide a little guidance, you know,
just with fitness and stuff because a lot of the fitness things we do are all everyday related.
You know, it's helping out with your everyday activities.
So that was the catalyst for, you know, starting inspiration fitness.
And since then I've been training other people.
I've been, I got credentialed myself as a trainer and I just kind of, I'm trying to push the adaptation to fitness, you know,
not just equipment, but just, you know, the way we think about fitness.
It's not, you know, as amputees we were flooded with images of those elite style athletes, you know,
the number ones in CrossFit and the Judo kickboxers and stuff.
But that's not what we're all about all the time, you know, it's just, it's fitness is, so we are more efficient in our life every day.
We don't have to all be an Olympian, you know.
Yeah, that was one of the things that I have in my show notes here was that I wanted to talk about that topic of like the perception of amputee
is a wounded vet or an elite CrossFit athlete.
But I think like 90% maybe even more of amputees are people that got there through infections or illness or diabetes.
And I think that's not kind of the narrative that's perpetuated in the mainstream quite as much.
And those people deserve to access fitness just as much as those that have elite aspirations.
It doesn't make their goals any less important or novel.
So I think creating environments where those people can kind of seamlessly coexist among their peers and have the proper support is essential.
You mentioned starting Inspiration Fitness a couple years ago.
Are you working exclusively with amputees or do you kind of run the gamut on various populations?
So I do accept both amputee and paralysis and evil body. I'm credentialed across the board so I can train anyone literally.
I prefer to work with lower leg amputees mostly.
I'm an above name amputee myself. So those are the ones I really relate to.
But I've worked with people who are above elbow people and paralysis.
I have a couple clients who are able bodied but have TBIs. So we're still working with accessibility things with them.
So yeah, I really tend to cater more to people who just don't feel comfortable in gym on their own.
Yeah, it might be too hard to consolidate into one or two recommendations.
But what have you found to be successful strategies when working with lower limb amputees?
Like how does exercise selection change or what specific strength conditioning principles do you think are most prevalent?
So I'll give you the sound like a really political answer.
But consistency is the best thing ever for anybody, right?
So I mean, just being there every day and working a little bit on something every day.
But I found, I know you're looking for the exercise for your listeners.
Anything balance related really? Anything you're working with balance?
Because balance is the step one for everything we do is lower leg amputees.
And you know, not just lower leg but just leg amputees.
You know, we're working on our core balance and we're working on our thrust and our give with our hips.
So it's anything balance related, yeah.
Yeah. So if you maybe put yourself in the shoes of a client and you are coming into my gym for the first time as a lower leg amputee,
what would you want me as the trainer to ask you or kind of what would you want that first session to look like?
I want to talk about, you know, and this is a lot of amputees and friends of mine I've talked to over the years.
It's been, you know, our goals aren't always to do American Ninja Warrior or to be triathlete again.
And I was a triathlete prior to my injuries and I don't have a reservation to get back to triathlon.
That wasn't, that wasn't, but it was assumed that I did, you know.
A great first question is what your six months in progress look like?
You know, what's one year look like to you?
So keep us, you know, we've all heard the smart goals, you know, we're going to have, keep us expectations whether we should and have, you know, things that are attainable and immeasurable, you know.
Like just start off, let's start with the start with the start, you know, how do you walk?
Yeah, yeah, I think that's important and you, you talked about kind of providing an option that bridges the gap between rehab and return to fitness.
And I think that's really important because I think a lot of people assume that whenever you're working with disability, it's kind of reserved for a physical therapy setting.
But we found that a lot of our clients, I wouldn't say prefer because I don't want to diminish the importance of the rehab setting,
but some of them like being in a general normal environment among their non disabled peers and just trying to get back into a routine of thing that allows them to accomplish what they want to do.
So I think providing providing access to just general fitness with the necessary supports is essential.
Right, right.
So you mentioned some other sports before we, before we hopped on to this is are there recreational activities that you, that you're gravitating towards?
Oh, it's always depends on what season I'm in in my life really, you know, I read out of, you know, prior to my application, I was a triathlete and none of mine, nothing I do is good.
I'm not a very good athlete, anything I do, but I do it just for fitness reasons.
I was a triathlete prior to my invitation after that I got gravitated towards powerlifting for a while.
I was doing pretty well in that and then now I've gotten back into rock climbing again.
So I'm just I'm one of those guys who I see something new new and shiny I want to do I'll dive head first into it.
So I'll go on from I've gone from rock climbing just learning how myself to be you know, be adaptive climber and teaching and doing instructions and courses and stuff here in town.
I'm in Nashville.
Cool. What are the primary barriers or challenges that you kind of face as an amputee when doing something like rock climbing?
You know, it's I've got I don't really pay face the barriers anymore because I've gotten past that barrier and that's that's one of the one of the most important things that I was kind of we talk about today was it's the invitation the accessibility you know it's like for especially rock climbing you know and you if you have a leg
amputation or even an upper limit of amputation you know you don't have to wait for someone to invite you to come to the rock climbing gym or wait for an adaptive type day or a clinic or someone special make a special concessions.
I know a lot of rock climbing gyms do this and so do other other outfits you know gyms and fitness classes and whatnot you don't there's no there's no rule that says you can't be there when when it's a non adaptive day you know we as part of what adaptive fitness is it's
just learning how to how to improvise overcome and adaptive things you know. Have you ever met any resistance from environments that either didn't feel comfortable accommodating you as an amputee or wasn't willing to kind of take on that that challenge.
No not not per se you know in gyms you know sometimes gyms will have stairs you have to get up and down some stairs but as far as sports go is it any kind of sport I've ever tried to get back into like the rock climbing.
The powerlifting I've never been shunned or looked at and looked oddly I mean nothing but great accolades people are you know always very you know they hence the name inspiration is fitness people are always saying it's such an inspiration to see us do these things but you know it's to me it just it's just lifting weights you know.
Yeah I think like you say that you don't have to wait for a specific day or to be invited but I think there's got to be something that's holding back people from re engaging in activities like this after an injury.
Maybe it's just a concern that they won't be met with that same level of support or that they won't. I think like when you look at the research on barriers and facilitators the physical activity you see that like environments not being accessible is obviously one but also that like the professionals aren't going to have the
requisite skills to support them and keep them safe and kind of guard their guard their disability in that regard so that's where I think just like kind of creating more environments that have staff that are better educated is is essential.
Right.
But I it's it's a tough it's sometimes a tough sell so when I'm trying to convince a gym that their staff should be more knowledgeable on how to accommodate various disabilities there's always like a well what is this going to do for us type of thing.
And that's I mean in my experience running a gym that trains a lot of people with disabilities it's been a essential piece of our model and we some of our longest term clients are the ones with disabilities and so I think it's it can be a part of a profitable business model.
And that's where I think it's it's essential to kind of communicate that message but I'd be interested to kind of talk about like maybe what you did prior kind of growing up through university.
You mentioned being in substance use counseling and kind of was that always the career you were in or did you start somewhere before that.
That actually the substance use counseling was it was a peer substance use counselor.
I wasn't doing a master's degree anything I was just peer peer relations and that whole job kind of evolved out of my own recovery.
You know I was I was an active active alcoholic for a lot of years and 2014 I got sober.
You know so I started working as a volunteer at 501c3 nonprofit who then trained me up at the state level and I just I fell in love with being able to help other people at that point.
You know but prior to that I was you know I was kind of a blue collar guy.
I was you know I was I was a Marine for a number of years and I did a lot of welding and so but I couldn't you know once I got injured I couldn't really carry carry steel anymore so I had to find some kind of an office job.
Yeah did were you active duty Marine.
I was from 1984 1998 yeah.
Okay and did that was this transition out of the service one was that a challenge kind of that transition.
No not really I was you know it was it was all part of the plan it was you know just getting it out for a couple years give my I was I was that generation was getting my GI bill I was getting my college education money.
Yeah yeah and I was I was pretty not 11 so 911 it changed everything for one.
Yeah right.
You mentioned in some of your social media content that the amputation improved your life greatly and I think that's kind of a sentiment that we hear from some of our guests.
Maybe like in what ways has your life been better after your amputation.
Oh yeah great I mean that's I say it with a little bit tongue in cheek you know being empty is never really fun right.
But I definitely don't have the physical pain I used to have when I was going through infections and bone bone grafts and stuff.
That's all kind of the obvious that was that was that all got worked out in the end and has been great for me.
But what was better for me what became better for me was this this becoming an advocate and working with other people like me and and creating self confidence to create better lives that I was I was that was a gift that I was given out of this.
You know that's kind of that's been a better transformation for me.
I've you know I've become happier with myself and the work that I'm doing rather just kind of floating through life.
Yeah.
Are there any organizations that you found like a lot of value in.
Absolutely.
Yeah the challenge athletes Foundation is great obviously.
I if you don't know her if you ever get a chance to look her up and check out her foundation is called Kirstie and his foundation.
Kirstie was a US Marine who lost her leg in a helicopter accident.
Amazing woman she brings brings the amputees and veterans out to Colorado for rock climbing and snowboarding clinics.
And she does great work because everything's free for the amputee I went out for one clinic a couple years ago.
But she's a great clinic.
Are there specific like support groups or communities that you find value in being involved with or.
Oh yeah.
Absolutely.
I got it early on from another amputee mentor of mine was amputee coalition.
I just I actually just got back from their conference in Orlando about a month ago.
It's just it's a great network of people they have you know such a great strong online presence which always transfers over to Instagram friendships you know there's bulletin boards in there and resources it's just a great resource for an amputee.
Yeah absolutely.
Maybe a quick digression into like kind of etiquette.
This is a question that we asked some of our guests like how do you feel about the word disabled.
Does that have a positive or negative connotation to you.
I think it was just part of America like the con to me it's not it's not a slam or or any kind of designation of the person that I am.
It's just a it's a parking space to me.
Yeah I think like there's a push sometimes for more like politically correct terms like differently abled but a lot of the times that's kind of perpetuated by people who don't have disabilities and then when I talk to someone who does they're like oh no I don't I don't really like that terminology I don't mind disabled at all.
So it's it's an interesting kind of juxtaposition like the more people with disabilities that I talked to the more like the term disabled doesn't seem quite as disrespectful as as you might be led to believe.
Yeah and I've sat through sessions and round tables about about about you know about the correct terminology but not nowadays and I just you know I can't help the fact that I had a sense of humor and you know I've kind of dark sense of humor so I don't mind anything.
I'd you know you can call me what you want just don't don't call me late for the late dinner.
Is there like have there been situations where people maybe it's with like kids or that have like stared at your prosthetic or like if there was a younger kid looking at it and like a situation where a mom's like oh no like don't stare at
him or whatever like that sometimes that I see when I'm with someone in like a wheelchair or I take care of a boy with Down syndrome and autism who who visibly looks a little different than his peers so we get a lot of looks.
Does that stuff bother you or like how would you want someone to approach that as a parent maybe.
It's actually funny because I love little kids I teach them at the rock climbing gym I just I think that some of the most true people in the world.
It's it I've never never felt any kind of way about anything with it when a kid approaches me or anybody else really it's usually my wife that's telling me to quit quit telling him so much.
She tells me yeah that offered to take my leg off and show the kids and she my wife's always patting me on the back telling me we have to keep going keep moving along.
Yeah I think it's like it might just be another one of those things where most people with disabilities are comfortable with that.
Yeah it's it's in the honesty of kids is never you know you can never say no to that so any kid that has a question is fine with me ever.
It's a good learning experience and just kind of part of the process I guess of normalizing disability like if you can have an interaction with someone and you make it seem like your prosthetic is just another part of you then that kid might carry forward.
That process that like if someone looks different than me that's just a part of them so maybe it kind of is going to like bring forth this lasting narrative that will kind of help change people's perception of disabilities so I think that's important.
One of the questions that we one of the questions that we asked all the guests is like what do you think has to be done to make maybe the fitness industry specifically more inclusive and accessible.
That's a really broad question and there's a lot of different changes I'd like to see but you know for for one of like to you know for to be not such a weird thing.
You know we don't need to have gyms just for us we don't need to have you know not a lot of special concessions we need in a gym for as far as equipment and whatnot go.
I just it's really just accessibility to you know it's it's it's our space as well as your space you know I say yours able by community but but I don't you know me and I'd like to see more people who look like me in the gym around you know I don't know how we have the fitness industry as a whole could do that as far as
other rise giving away memberships but you know but just you know making it making it an accessible place but the other other part would be before we get to the gym memberships in the fitness industry.
Let's talk about you know the mental health of the people who are just recently amputated and they're giving them the confidence of being able to go out there and do these things because sometimes this first two years.
It's a period of people just being down you know they don't get a chance to really feel that kind of self confidence and yeah I can go to plan a fitness and do this workout I can do this.
They go play pickleball with my friends or whatever and if I follow my face so did so did Bob I saw a video of him doing it you know.
Were there any resources that were provided to you after your amputation that kind of were essential to that thought process.
Yeah I had I had a team I had a really good personal team like I had my friends who are professionals but nothing was really prescribed to me now.
What I you know what I what I did is I took a little bit from my substance use world and I took a little bit from my athlete world and kind of met and meled them together to kind of have that confidence to fight through this first two years.
Yeah yeah you mentioned in response to that previous question that like you don't need gyms that are specific for people with disabilities and that's something that I believe pretty strongly about is like programs that only support people with disabilities are well
intentioned and very important but that's almost like not inclusion when you only put people with disabilities in one environment instead of integrating them into the mainstream so I think it's like at least to me and this is probably my biases because part of the work that we do is trying to educate more
fitness professionals but like I think part of the issue is just like knowledge for a lot of new grads and new fitness professionals and like I mentioned before maybe they assume that adaptive fitness is reserved for rehab settings and they think it's beyond their scope to support someone who's an amputee
but like if you came to me I'm not a physical therapist I'm just a strength and conditioning coach like you would probably almost be able to guide me just through open communication of like what you can and can't do and then together together we can kind of problem solve so
at least in my experience that's one of the most important first steps to working with a new client with a disability is just an open line of communication to figure out what they can and they can't do.
Right and that's standard for the course and it's any therapist or any conditioning coach that's going to want to know a full medical background so and you're right we were saying earlier asking about what the industry could do
you know we try as an industry to push our people to get credentialed you know there's no law or requirement for anyone to be personal training qualified to actually be a personal trainer but there are some reputable companies out there who do training
and so that's one of our things to include a chapter or two about you know maybe adaptive considerations at least you know that you know just to just where our skin considerations might be what it looks like for our heart rate elevates the kind of thing just so they're a little more aware to kind of open like you said to talk about open the stigma up get it out there.
So there's no need for any co occurring maybe not necessarily disabilities but like symptoms that are associated with your amputation that you find that when you're working out are exacerbated in any way.
No I don't feel like not my physiology I feel like it always helps my mood right I mean I've been yeah I went through a little spot of depression but so but my mood you know you get the endorphin release it always helps you be a happier person so yeah.
Yeah but anything like phantom limb pain or any of those.
No I you know just from my workouts in the way I don't really have anything that results from them other than you know just I feel great.
Is there anything that's like off limits from a training perspective that's like not good for you.
Yeah for me specifically is jumping I don't do a whole lot of impact I try to stay away from impact movement just because you know I I'll put it out there in the world I'm 47 years old and I've only got one one last one last legs I want to ruin that last knee so I don't try to keep that one last needs good shape.
Absolutely.
What's kind of your preferred like cardio modality.
Swim swimmer I love being in the water yeah I just I can put the whole world tune it out for an hour so just one lapse all day long.
Yeah that might be a little bit of that travel on background but no interest in getting back on to the bike or anything.
My wife has explicitly told me if I ever try running against you'll kill me.
There you go yeah that seems like that's enough to squash that before it even begins so was there anything specific that you thought would be relevant to cover that you want to kind of mention with the goal of this podcast being to kind of share lived experiences of people with disabilities as well as the professionals who are supporting them.
Any like key points or things that you like messages that you want to communicate.
I just like that for your listeners just keep on researching you know it doesn't it doesn't seem like the exercises and the tutorials and how to use and all those things are really out there for us.
But when you find them there's you know there's a good substantial amount of information out there at least to get you walking well and feeling better and you know that but as we as the demand for it grows will keep on delivering it hopefully.
Yeah absolutely well we'll share share in the show notes any links that you want to include to your website or to your page we'll link your Instagram page as well but appreciate the conversation today and kind of the the information and wisdom that you shared.
And if there's anything that you recall later on that you want us to include we'll we'll throw it in the show notes but Bob we appreciate you joining us today.
Alright Brandon thank you very much appreciate it was good.
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