Disability Is a Bridge, Not a Barrier, to Achieving Fitness Goals

Listen in as Sarah chats with Ella Beaumont, a national wheelchair basketball athlete, disability sports coach, and personal trainer. 

They explore how to foster inclusion, challenge stereotypes, and adapt fitness programs for people with disabilities, emphasising that true accessibility and inclusiveness are about community, creativity, and understanding.

Follow Ealla at https://www.youtube.com/@ellabeept  IG:  https://www.instagram.com/ellabeept   Website:  www.ellabeept.co.uk

For more about the training and support Sarah offers, visit www.sarahbolitho.com or contact her at admin@sarahbolitho.com.

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Transcript

Sarah (00:01.945)

Hello and welcome to this latest episode of Creating Active Lives with me, Sarah Bulitho and my regular guests. We're here to share the science, the strategies, but also the inspiration to help you create a more active life. And this week I'm really pleased to have somebody with me who is going to absolutely, I think, inspire so many people. So welcome to Ella Beaumont.

Ella's background is in sports coaching science and disability and she is a wheelchair user and we'll learn more about why in a little bit of a moment but she's a qualified coach and she's trained a lot of people all abilities in wheelchair basketball and she's actually represented Great Britain in the sport so yay it's wonderful to have kind of a national athlete on. She's also created wheelchair workouts on YouTube and I'll make sure you get the link later which means that

you know, a lot more people can get access to her knowledge and expertise. There's also some other TV and film stuff that I'm really going to have to ask about. So not just the Paralympics, but things like craft and the Invictus Games. But we will come back to that a bit later. So welcome, Ella. Tell us, tell us about you.

Ella Beaumont (01:19.406)

Well, that's a very lovely introduction. Thank you very much. I didn't really expect that. But yeah, my name's Ella and I live close to Stoke Mandeville, which is amazing because I've got like the home of disability sport on my doorstep, literally. So I feel very lucky. I was born at Stoke Mandeville and I was born 31 years ago. You know how old I am now. But when I was born, actually five days before I was born, I stopped kicking in the womb. And there was no rhyme or reason to that, just something that happened. And my mum, my mum honestly thought she'd lost me there was like suddenly I'd gone really ballistic, kick, kick, kick, kick and then nothing. So quite scary time for my mum because she didn't know what had happened. Went and got checked. They found a heartbeat so they knew I was still alive but they didn't really quite know what had happened. And when I was born, I was born quite floppy. I had a really floppy left hand. My left hand was born fully shut and wouldn't open at all.

And the doctors noticed pretty quickly that I wasn't kicking my legs and they didn't think that was a good sign. So after about, I think it was about two months of lots of different tests and unknown, we finally got a diagnosis that I had been born with a spinal cord injury. So basically I'd had a blood clot in the spinal cord at around about the lesions T1 to T4 with a bit of C6 nicked because my left hand was affected. So that means I can't feel or move anything from my chest downwards, have never been able to walk, will never walk and have always used a wheelchair. But for me, I count myself quite lucky because I don't know any different and I've always just grown up learning what I've learnt. I've got two lovely older sisters and my mum was very determined that I was always going to be treated the same as them and know differently. The world was never going to revolve around me as she always said. So I think I've, thanks to my parents, I've lived a very positive life and have always been quite independent and doing my own thing. So I do feel very lucky that I don't know any different and it's just me.

Sarah (03:31.021)

Which is an amazing kind of attitude to have and I think sometimes people particularly who acquire things like spinal cord injuries or other types of disability that the transition from not having a disability to having one can be really, really hard. But I guess for you it's kind of, it is what it is. So.

Ella Beaumont (03:52.558)

Yeah, so I actually do one day a week at the moment I work at one day a week at the spinal unit, working with newly injured patients, doing workouts with them. And so I see that whole journey that they go through, they come in and they're in for about three to six months. So you see them at the beginning of their journey when their injury is really, really, really fresh. And then you see them when they leave rehab, and they're a bit more confident, they've got that independence a bit more, a bit stronger. And so I find that journey really rewarding.

And I don't always pretend that I can relate to them fully because I can't because I've not had that trauma. But at the same time, I do know what they're going through now and I know what their life is going to be like when they leave hospital. So I like to think I help in that aspect instead.

Sarah (04:36.089)

Yeah, because it must be a big change for people. think we would, before we came on, were saying, know, disability is something that can happen to anyone at any time. You could be fine today and tomorrow. And any number of things can lead to some form of disability, is, I think, something we often take healthy bodies for granted. But for you, it's having a healthy body and a spinal cord injury. kind of, it's not one or the other, is it? It's just going to make this body as healthy as possible. So how did it impact things like school and sport at school and activity?

Ella Beaumont (05:13.769)

Yeah, so I was really lucky that I had a really positive school sporting and well school experience and sporting experience at school. I had a few funny stories really, but I was very lucky enough that my teachers really treated me the same as everyone else and I think I was quite headstrong and independent that I just kind of got on with it as well. So various sports that we did at school, I just kind of started adapting and like for example if we did dance then I would just make like kind of adapt the moves so I just did it in my chair myself or if I was in a group and we were doing like gymnastics then my friends would they would integrate me and they would maybe do things like stand on my chair and do different balances that way and things like that so we did make it work and I had very positive teachers and then when I got to secondary school there was things like cross-country and I was thinking well how am going to do that because it was back in the day when in cross-country you used to go out and run around the local area and I thought well that's gonna be really hard to wheel around the local area and go on pavements or woods or whatever so I went up really confidently to my teacher I said I'm not gonna be able to do this miss am I? I'm thinking I might get out of cross-country because no one likes it and she looked at me she goes no you're doing it and I was like but how how am I gonna do it and she actually picked me and my best friend and we actually we went around the playground quite a few times and then when everyone else was running back in, she engineered it so we joined them in the finish line and we all finished together. So it wasn't perfect because I wasn't integrated with everyone all the time, but it still meant that I still did the exercise. I was still part of it and I was integrated as much as possible and I wasn't just put in a library to study, which I know a lot of disabled children are segregated off to go study in a library and miss out on their PE lessons completely. So I was very thankful that I did get lots of opportunities.

Sarah (07:16.985)

from your teacher is so important because it means that your classmates get used to adapting to including and things like that and it's I mean a little bit of a random thought just came to me but in the Rocky Mountain National Park which you know is in the middle of Colorado and as you can imagine it's it's high high high up and there's actually a lake it's around 8,000 feet it's called Sprague Lake but they've created around this I mean it's only about a mile or so but it's a completely wheelchair accessible path around the lake. Yeah, but it means that, you know, okay, you can't necessarily go up and down mountains, although I have spoken to people who have gone up and down mountains in wheelchairs with the support of organizations and things, but this means that, you know, families can go for a walk in the Rockies and experience all of that with, you know, incomplete safety.

Ella Beaumont (07:47.893)

Wow, that's cool.

Sarah (08:12.481)

And although it's not the same as like you say, cross country itself, it is still being able to experience that sort of natural environment in a really positive way. And I think it's teachers like yours, but also people like you that, okay, what can we do? It's not looking at what you can't do. It's looking at what can I do? What can I adapt? How can I change this? And we need more of that thinking of, okay, let's give things a go, let's see what works. Let's see what doesn't work. Because there's, if anyone's listened, I've got two grandchildren that are ninja athletes, like Ninja Warrior and that sort of thing, if anyone's familiar with it. But there is a guy, I think he's a double amputee, who does all of that. you know, it's an example of there's a way, there's a way you can do something. Somethings might not, yeah, yeah, there's always, yeah.

Ella Beaumont (08:42.197)

a way for anything. There is a way for anything, if you put your mind to it. Yeah.

Sarah (09:11.479)

And it's, but it's sometimes it takes a meeting of minds to say, okay, let's work this out, doesn't it?

Ella Beaumont (09:18.859)

Yeah, and I think a lot of people a lot of the time think that you have to have special training for that or you have to have special qualifications for that. But actually, really, it comes down to thinking outside the box. And that's all you need to do is just being creative and think about, actually, how can we do this a little bit differently and not maybe do it the textbook way that everyone else has always done it to include everyone? Like, for example, I had another really positive experience back in primary school when my mum wanted me to join the netball club because I was quite into ball sports at that point. So I joined the netball club and the netball club was run by the dinner lady, Mrs Thomas. And I actually owe quite a lot of my sporting career to Mrs Thomas now because she got me involved in netball, which then led on to basketball. And without her, I wouldn't have tried it at all and fallen in love with ball sports. So she ran the netball club and was quite a strong, firm woman. She was always determined that I would always be included. And so we had various rules that were known as Ella's rules. So for example, no one was allowed to mark me because if anyone stood right in front of me, then I would just be completely blocked and I wouldn't have any hope of getting the ball. So that was nice. The second rule was if I touched the ball anywhere near me but didn't quite manage to catch it, so if I just got my hand on it, that ball would then automatically be mined from that spot. So it meant I wouldn't be having to like lean too far and reach it and things like that. So that worked well. And then finally there was another one, a shooting one, I think as well. I wasn't allowed to be marked when shooting. So there was various rules, which were slightly different, but it meant that I was included and every school that we played, she made sure that that school played by my rules and things like that. It was so lovely. so...

Because of that I had such a positive experience playing netball. I really liked the sport then and I was included and I felt like everyone else and I was just Ella who was playing goal shooter, you know.

Sarah (11:28.729)

And then from there you kind of segue into wheelchair basketball.

Ella Beaumont (11:34.314)

Yeah, so as I mentioned at beginning that I grew up really near Stoke Mandeville and so I loved team sports. I actually started off playing tennis and I really liked tennis but realised I wasn't very good at the individual aspect of tennis and being on my own, which is when I went to Stoke Mandible and I tried out basketball for very first time on a wheel power sports camp. I think it was National Junior Games it was at the time where you got to go around and try out lots of different sports. And I loved basketball, absolutely loved it. So from there, I went on to my local club, which was at Stoke Mandible. And I played for years. It was such a nice group of people that were playing at that time. And I had friends from all over the country when playing basketball, because when you're in the junior tournament, you play lots of different national teams. And to the point I know if anyone knows the wheelchair basketball classification very well, but in wheelchair basketball you are allowed to have some able-bodied players playing as well. They take up more points in the classification system, but they are allowed to play. And so it meant one of my best school friends, she came along with me and she would play wheelchair basketball at my club as well. So that was something we could do together and really enjoyed it. So it's given me lots of different opportunities and I just love that team aspect of it and being involved in a team and the fast-pacedness and the violence in it. I love the violence.

Sarah (13:06.967)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you were, I'll come on to that, come on to that, something else in a moment, but you've actually represented Great Britain. Did you, I mean, did you get to Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, all that sort of stuff?

Ella Beaumont (13:18.444)

So I never actually did a Paralympics, but I represented Great Britain more at the under 25 level. So I went to a world championships at under 25s and I went to a European championships at the under 25s. We actually won bronze medal in Canada with our world championships and then we won a silver medal in Germany for the Europeans. So was really cool. And just being able to represent your country was amazing. I would have loved to have gone further, but for me at the time,

Ella Beaumont (13:48.329)

I was juggling a lot of university studies and also lot of politics within the classification system and all that as well. There's always some politics. But I loved what I did and I think I was just really proud of what I'd achieved already and I decided that it was time to focus on my degree and get my degree. So I did stop GB but I still play basketball now at a high level and love it because it's still the same and it's still mainly the same people playing and they're friends for life really so I love that.

Sarah (14:18.625)

Sometimes the medals are great, the glory is great, but sometimes it's the participation that is so important. And you mentioned violence, so I just wanted to quickly touch, because I know you've mentioned before that you have had a wheelchair rugby as well, which is kind of known for being not the gentlest of sports, is it?

Ella Beaumont (14:34.41)

No, so wheelchair rugby is brutal and I don't know if anyone knows but it was actually before it was in the Paralympics it was called murderball because it was so violent but when they moved into the Paralympics they had to name it something more politically correct so wheelchair rugby got named instead. I love wheelchair rugby it was really good I still prefer basketball a lot of my wheelchair rugby friends will be like ooh controversial but I still prefer basketball because I think I prefer the tactics in basketball but wheelchair rugby is great sport it's a great stress release after a really long day at work, that's for sure. But also it's really good for like the higher level injuries. Anyone who's a quadriplegic, they can play wheelchair rugby and it's a really good opportunity to once again be involved in a team but also just wheel straight into someone else because there's like, there's literally, well there is rules obviously but it's a bit more fluid than wheelchair basketball when you can just wheel straight into someone else and get away with it.

It's a good stress release and it's a great sport and I'm glad I did try it when I I came back from uni that was the first time I tried it and the people I met in that sport as well were also really lovely.

Sarah (15:49.945)

It's, I was talking to somebody once and I was saying, surely it's dangerous. And he went, what's the worst that can happen?

Ella Beaumont (15:56.588)

That's it, a lot of the people who are athletes in it say, well, I've already broken my back once. And they're like, so what, what was going to, how much worse can it be? And you're like, fair play. Yeah, I get it. So there are a lot of them are genuine junkies and daredevils and you don't want to mess with them basically. I was the only female on my team for a long time. So I had to really stand my ground.

It's it's something but again, it's it's the it's the opportunity isn't it's the chance to be an adrenaline junkie. It's the chance to to do something that is fast paced that is aggressive that's you know, there's so many things aren't there and it's a really good outlet and you know, it's the sort of thing that you kind of think gosh if somebody who wasn't used to being in a wheelchair tried it they just get annihilated because it isn't just the sports skill is it it's being able to use a chair in 100 % and I think a lot of people don't really realise or underestimate how physical it is. And I certainly was that person. So I'd gone from obviously playing wheelchair basketball to then trying wheelchair rugby. And because I could play wheelchair basketball and being more able that I could manage playing wheelchair basketball, which a lot of wheelchair rugby players can't do, when I went to wheelchair rugby, I think I went in a little bit blasé and thinking I was really. like maybe stronger than some of those athletes in wheelchair rugby. But my goodness, my very first session in wheelchair rugby was tough. Like they are physically strong, those athletes, and they have such good endurance. My muscles were killing after like 20 minutes and I still had like an hour and a half left of the session. So, you know, like they are so fit and they're such strong athletes and they are proper, proper endurance athletes. are really, yeah It shouldn't be underestimated basically.

Sarah (17:47.609)

It's that kind no limits thing isn't it? And talking of no limits, this is something that we want to move on now to fitness because you are a qualified personal trainer and now a qualified disability instructor as well which is something I'm not going to rant about but the disability qualification being withdrawn disappoints me hugely because with a fifth of the population living with a disability we need more instructors out there not fewer so

Ella Beaumont (17:52.277)

Yeah.

Sarah (18:15.903)

It is something that that's how we got to know each other. you know, you what made you decide to get into fitness and personal training and everything?

Ella Beaumont (18:25.387)

Yeah, it's a bit of a story really, but I started off, I studied sports coaching science with disability studies at university in the University of Worcester and I loved it. It was the only one in the country that was a sports coaching science degree with disability studies and I couldn't not turn that, I couldn't turn that down basically, I loved it. And when I went to Worcester, Worcester were really geared up. They were doing lots of different disability sports at the time and they were just really clued up with disability.

So was a really nice place to be. I felt really friendly. So I loved my course. But when I left uni, was, which I'm sure we'll get onto later, but I was working in television until COVID hit. And obviously COVID changed a lot of people's lives, all of our lives. And all of a sudden I was furloughed from my job and at home doing nothing, which I don't do very well at. I don't sit still. So...

Basically, everyone was doing Joe Wicks and everyone was getting involved in Joe Wicks and my mum and sister were doing it and I thought, I'll have a go at that. So one morning I joined in Joe Wicks with my mum and sister and it probably could do maybe like 30 % of it because a lot of it was legs. And I think what Joe did was amazing, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't suit anyone with a disability. So at that point I decided to look online and see if there was anything out there for wheelchair users online to keep active during lockdown at home. And I found some videos and they don't get me wrong, they were good, but they didn't necessarily inspire me in the right way or motivate me in the right way. So I thought if I'm struggling, there must be other people out there struggling to keep active in lockdown. So I thought I'd film a video and put it online and see what happens. And I didn't really expect it to do as well as it did.

And within six weeks, my videos were being quite well received. I did a video every week and it reached quite a lot of the disabled community. I had various charities then come to me and say, would you mind doing a Zoom workout for us, live on Zoom and have people join in on their own screen, at home, in their own living room? I was like, absolutely. So before I knew it, I was furloughed from work, but I was doing about 10 different sessions a week on Zoom for various different charities and companies, kind of bringing a whole community together, which was really nice. And I had quite a lot of people join in each class, maybe about 20 in each class, which was really cool. So it was being well received and it was definitely something that was needed, which I didn't realise was needed before. And then so I did that for quite a long time and what turned in, what I thought would be a six week venture turned into two years and then turned into three years and four years and five years and here we are like nearly six years later. I wanted to get more backing behind myself at that point. And I had my sports coaching degree but I wanted more of my knowledge behind me. And that's when I studied, decided to study as a personal trainer and get my personal training degree and qualification. And I really enjoyed that as well. And at the time when I was studying my personal training qualification I said to the provider and I said, ss there anything, is there a qualification for disability as well, disability studies? And I don't know rightly or wrongly, she said, there is a course, but I don't know if it's anything you'd already know already Ella. So I, at the point, at that point, I didn't do the disability instructor course. A few years later, I've now done it and I am very glad I did because it's such a good course. And I'm also infuriated like you are that they are stopping it. So Yeah, I find it real shame there's not more disabled instructors because there is no reason why we can't instruct. Just because we're sitting down, it doesn't mean that we're a good instructor or a good personal trainer. It just means that you have to have maybe sharper explanations if you're teaching someone with an able-bodied, who's able-bodied because you can't demonstrate yourself. But other than that, you can do everything an able-bodied instructor can do.

Sarah (22:42.073)

This is something we did talk about on the course when we were talking about things like visual impairment and hearing impairment. I used to do some work with the Royal College for the Blind in Hereford and these guys, they have significant visual impairments and actually everybody that I know that's gone on to employ one of these lads, because they were main, they were all boys actually, well men I should say, everyone said they're best instructors because they are so good at instructing, at supporting people, just because you can't see or you can't stand doesn't mean you can't instruct, you can't teach and actually sometimes it makes people better because they build other skills much more rather than relying on what they can do, they rely much more on what the individual can do and coaching them in that rather than you know this is how you do a squat.

Ella Beaumont (23:29.255)

And sometimes it's not always the textbook. Like sometimes you have to adapt it to whoever you've got in front of you. And if you've got a client that is, who has a disability or in some sort of impairment that means you can't do it in this textbook way, then you need to adapt to make it work for them. Because otherwise they're not going to be able to do it. So yeah.

Sarah (23:54.859)

Exactly and Sam the other tutor on the course she has cerebral palsy, has a very typical kind of scissor gate and things, she will never be able to do a perfect squat but it doesn't mean that she doesn't have to sit down and stand up in real life, she's still got to do that so she's still got to develop the technique that helps her do that and it's the same with a lot of things isn't it and I think having a disability sometimes it makes you think a lot more holistically about

Ella Beaumont (24:04.424)

No.

Sarah (24:21.783)

what you can and can't do. And this is why we need these courses. We need instructors like you. We need people. mean, the other two of the other girls on the course are in wheelchairs and they do a lot of dance instruction. There's no, there is no limit. There's, there's all sorts of things that you can, you can, there's also ways. Yes.

Ella Beaumont (24:32.553)

One of those girls was also nonverbal, she didn't speak and yet her demonstrations were just incredible and you knew exactly what you needed to do and there was no barrier there at all which I thought was amazing. So there shouldn't be a barrier.

Sarah (24:51.597)

No. And that's, we're very quick to assume, you know, the image in fitness, if you like, that you have to be perfect, you have to be able to demonstrate, but actually, no, you just have to be able to get someone else to do it cleanly and clearly and work it with them. And I think that's, you know, one of the things about, that does frustrate me about the fitness industry is a lot of the imagery, a lot of the marketing, the promotions is all about, you know, perfection, whereas actually,

Ella Beaumont (25:06.474)

Yes.

Sarah (25:20.249)

Most of us don't necessarily want perfection, we just want progress. We want to not decline in some cases.

Ella Beaumont (25:28.904)

I do think that that is a little bit of a battle that I'm fighting with at the moment at my gym. So I'm currently a self-employed personal trainer at Stoke Mandible. And I love it there. I've got access to a fully adapted gym, which is amazing. Well, not fully adapted, but pretty adapted compared to most gyms. And there is five other personal trainers that work at the gym as well. I am the only one with a disability. And so the deal was when I started there was that the gym would send, help send some clients to me as well. I'd have access to all the membership database and things like that. And I have had it, but at the same time I haven't been sent many people my way. And I've heard that other instructors get sent some clients as well, but I don't really get sent many because I think they see me as a disabled personal trainer. So I just need to have the disabled clients, which is not true. I want to coach everyone.

I want to coach able-bodied and disabled and I want to be an all-rounder. And I think some of the other instructors look at me sometimes and think, I don't know, I don't know. I might be wrong and I could be saying the wrong thing here, but it feels like they're looking at me sometimes and thinking, isn't it good that she's doing that? You know, like a bit more sympathetic. But actually what I'm getting out of my clients is very different to what they're getting out of their clients. And I think we've said this in the course is that,

Sarah (26:48.354)

Yeah.

Ella Beaumont (26:57.96)

Sometimes fitness isn't about lifting the heaviest weight. It's about maybe helping someone do a transfer into their chair that they couldn't do before or get a little bit stronger so they can push their wheelchair or just achieving something that is really simple task in their everyday life. And that is what I do as a personal trainer. Currently got a client who has MS and my aim at the moment is just teaching her to win her wheelchair. And we go around the track and that is our session.

It's not about lifting heavy weights because if I did that with her it would ruin her and she'd be wiped out for the rest of the week. That is not what I'm about. So my style of teaching and what I'm doing with clients and how I'm working with them is very, very different to a lot of the other personal trainers in the gym. And I think because of that sometimes it gets looked down on, which I don't think it should be. But I'm proud of what I do and I know what I'm doing. So I've just got to stick to my gun and know that I'm doing the right thing if you what mean.

Sarah (27:52.184)

Yeah.

And again, most people who know me will know that I've worked with, I would say, elite amateurs. I've not worked with professionals, but I've worked with pretty good elite amateurs and things like that. do you know what? mean, getting fit people fitter, stronger, faster, it's great. It's lovely. But working with people where you help them make small changes, small progressions, small gains that actually make a big difference.

Ella Beaumont (27:54.846)

But there's a stigma. That's what I'm saying. There's a stigma.

Ella Beaumont (28:10.941)

Yeah, yeah.

Sarah (28:24.589)

to what they do outside your sessions. So it's not about the bench press, the leg press, the time. It's about the fact that actually getting a bit stronger in their chest means that if they do fall, they can get back up again. If they do work on their leg strength, they can carry on going up and downstairs at home. It's the small things that happen away from you that actually matter. And this is something I think particularly with things like disability.

Helping somebody to get used to using their wheelchair means you've got to strengthen, you know, chest, triceps, back muscles, core muscles, if they've got them, if they've got functioning ones. But it's, that's not gonna, you're not gonna get huge improvements in the gym as such. But the gains that they will get outside the gym in the world environment, life environment, is gonna be huge. And I think sometimes, like you say, with fitness,

Success in fitness is measured by gains in the gym, by what people can do in their everyday life. Somebody being able to transfer independently, that's a big part of independence rather than deepening. And yet it's not something you can measure in the gym as such, but somebody coming and telling you they've done X or Y and you think, gosh, that's...

Ella Beaumont (29:24.209)

Yeah, and by numbers, but not by physical goals. Yeah.

Ella Beaumont (29:36.329)

It's so valuable, so valuable.

Sarah (29:48.951)

you were really nervous about doing things like that before, now you're confident to do it. And I think this is where, again, instructors like you know, A, how important the smaller things that we do in the gym are for everyday life. But also, and this is something, again, I think people don't always realize, we all have good days, bad days, but we kind of plow on through. But for somebody with a disability, their bad days might mean they can do very, very little. And it doesn't mean that they've  lost fitness or they're lazy or anything it just means on that day energy requirements just to get through the day mean that anything to do with fitness or exercise has to be completely adapted and that's something that you will understand because you know do you know what today I'm not going to happen I'm going to do this instead

Ella Beaumont (30:37.129)

And sometimes on those days, the fact that they've even got to the gym is the biggest hurdle. Like that, that is huge. So you just have to be really appreciative that they're even there. And then like you say, sometimes we have to just be a bit more sensible on those days and do very, like a lot less, you know, might just do some resistance bands. We might just do some meditation, you know, whatever works for them at that time. And you're right, I've got a client right now who's going on holiday in September, they're doing a drive around Scotland but she wants to be able to go on longer walks with the dog. She's an amputee, she's on crutches so she's got to build up that endurance and we've gone from doing two laps of the track we're now doing four and so she's building up that endurance as well and getting stronger and for me that's a success in my eyes and if she is able to do some longer walks with the dog on a holiday then I feel that's much more rewarding for me than any numbers of what weight she can lift, you know?

Sarah (31:33.977)

Exactly, it's that. But again, it's, you know, talking about people with either amputees or people born with limb loss and things like that. Again, things like wheelchairs and crutches. I think people say, you've got crutches. you've got a wheelchair. That's great. They don't realise how long it takes you to build up the skill, the technique and the strength in order to be able to use them properly.

My daughter-in-law recently had another knee operation. She had ACL tear. And even though she has used crutches before for other ACL tears, let's not go there, she said it took her a long time to get used to using crutches again. And this is something I think people think, you've got crutches, that's fine. But it's not as straightforward as under your arms and off you go. Same with a wheelchair. It's not just, we'll just wheel.

Ella Beaumont (32:17.619)

Yeah.

Sarah (32:30.605)

I mean, there must be a lot of muscle fatigue initially, a lot of soreness, same with crutches, that whole skill, that whole technique. You you see somebody in a wheelchair, you see a lot of kids, you see lot of grownups and everything in the wheelchair kind of spinning backwards and forwards and pivoting and they're going here and they're going there. It must take a very long time to get your skill to the point where you can do that without any sort of fear or worry about tipping over or falling out. It isn't as straightforward as have wheelchair, wheel wheel.

is it have crutches will hop it there's so much more skill and technique involved as well and it's i mean i know we talked about this on the course i think it's a scary statistic like over 10 percent of people wait more than a year for a wheelchair on the nhs and that that's a year of a loss of function of strength but also independence because the chair gives you a lot more independence than if you you haven't got one and

Ella Beaumont (33:18.249)

I do always say to my spinal patients right now though, say, if you can do it in the NHS chair that you get sent home in, you know the really heavy ones that you can't really move. If you can do it in that chair, you can do it in any chair. So I said, keep at it. I know it's frustrating, but if you can master the skill in that chair, it's going to be a lot easier when you get a more lighter weight chair that you can manoeuvre easier. yeah, it's so hard, so hard.

Sarah (33:55.051)

It is. again, it's, it's, this is where people like you have a much deeper understanding because you, you are in a wheelchair, but you also work with people in wheelchairs. work with people who are amputees and you, must, you know, it's not just the progress, is it? Sometimes, sometimes progress is just turning up. It's not doing more. It's just keeping going. But also the frustrations that people feel when things take longer, things ache, things hurt.

Ella Beaumont (34:14.311)

Yeah, 100%.

Sarah (34:24.249)

prosthetics change, they've got to get used to a whole new prosthetic. There's so much more to disability and it's why I think something like it's only 10 or 11 % of instructors in the UK have a disability, but 20 % of people, the population. So we need more people who understand. It's not saying, I've got a disability, therefore I'll work with all the disabled people. it's people like me saying, right I'm going to be working with someone in a wheelchair they want to get into basketball I know I'll talk to Ella I won't pass them to Ella I'll talk to Ella about the best way to build people up and do that so it's that networking that connection that support that advice and you know this is where we need so much more support for people to be able to get into fitness as a career but also just for their own personal fitness and it's something that I think, I'm not going to rant about the qualification going, but I'm hoping, fingers crossed, watch this space. But I do think it's something that we need an awful lot more awareness because, you know, we hear a lot about accessible facilities. Just because something's accessible doesn't mean it's inclusive.

Ella Beaumont (35:45.193)

knowledge is not there you know like I I can't even put a number on it but a majority of my clients that have come to me have come to me because they've tried personal trainers in the past who are able-bodied and they just said it hasn't really worked because they haven't really related to them or they haven't really understood their disability and so that's why they've come to me which is great for me and I wanted that they feel that they can come to me and I understand them but on the flip side I want to be known as just a personal trainer. I don't want to be known as a personal trainer who's got a disability. I don't want to just work with disabled people. I want to work with able-bodied people. And sometimes the able-bodied clients challenge me more because I have to think in a different way because it's not my comfort zone. don't know how to do it. So I'm using the knowledge that I've learned instead. So it tests me. And then on another flip side, sorry, just to mention this as well, is I really appreciate when I like my disabled clients because they understand maybe what I'm having a bad day or for example recently I've I don't know if I mentioned this to you but I've had a pressure sore on the side of my thigh and so I had about a week and a half where I was on bed rest and I couldn't work and my disabled clients went we got it we understand no worries come back when you're ready and that meant a lot to me and they've all stuck by me because they understand what I'm going through.

Whereas you don't feel like you have to completely justify yourself to a lot of people then because they understand what you're going through. yeah, as a person with a disability, I also have my struggles and I also have my times when I'm having a bad day and maybe I'm a bit later than planned because my toileting hasn't gone right in the morning and things like that. it's nice to have those clients who understand that. But also on the flip side, it's nice to work with everybody clients too. it's having a good mixture and a good balance is important.

Sarah (37:16.781)

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you find that having a disability and working with disabled clients makes you actually more creative when it comes to working with able-bodied clients? You don't just go down the traditional use this machine, this machine, these weights, whatever. Does it make you more creative, more kind of innovative?

Ella Beaumont (37:55.781)

I'd like to think so, yeah, I really do. yeah, a lot of my A-body clients are like, I haven't done this before. And I'm like, no, I don't think you would have because like, for example, I do a seated class on a Tuesday with more out, it's for anyone, but it's mainly able to leave it come. And for example, recently I've just brought along like sticks, like broomsticks with them and we've done a lot of work with broomsticks and they never thought to do that before. And so that taught them something new and something different and that was a way of building on their shoulders that they didn't know they could do. So yeah, I'd like to think that me thinking outside the box introduces some new exercises and makes it less the norm, know, more less mundane and less normal. So yeah.

Sarah (38:42.809)

At the end of the day, know, we know how important fitness training, strength training, cardiovascular training, all these sorts of things are we know, but at the end the we want to make it fun as well. We want it to be because when you enjoy something, you keep doing it. If you don't enjoy it, you look for excuses to not go and to not do it. And that's really important. So

Ella Beaumont (38:51.592)

100 %

And that was a huge aspect of my YouTube classes in lockdown. Like I was known as the broom girl by the end because I was doing lots of exercises with the broom or I was getting people, my whole ethos with them was I don't want you to have to have specialized equipment. know not everyone's got specialized equipment. I know a lot of Paralympians at the time were doing exercises online, but they were using things like ski hugs or varying machines, which are great, but a lot of people don't have access to that. So I wanted to make it more mainstream for anyone around and that's when I was like right if you haven't got any weights haven't got any dumbbells get some tins of beans or some bottles of water you know that's a good substitute so that's where my e-sauce comes in as well and I think I like to be a bit more inclusive in that aspect and include everyone.

Sarah (39:43.288)

And that's it, it's starting people out. If we say you've got to have this, you've got to have that. Like I've always said, you know, if you come into a class and as long as your shoe is secure on your foot, I'm happy with that. You don't have to have special trainers. don't, no stilettos, no flip-flops and things like that. you know, as long, yeah, if you have a foot, but as long as, as long as your footwear is secure, whether it's one or two, then, you know, I'm happy with that because, you know,

Ella Beaumont (39:58.916)

If you have a foot. Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah (40:17.017)

until people decide it's for them. You don't want to make them go out and spend loads of money on things. But when people do come in a new pair of trainers or trainer, you know now there's a value on it for them. They now value it to the point where they are prepared to spend money. And that's something they've got to put the value on it themselves. You can't force them to do that. So you've got to have these shoes, you've got to have that shoes and things like that. So we're just running a little bit close on time here, but...

Ella Beaumont (40:21.871)

No.

Sarah (40:46.937)

What I really want, one question that I have written down that I wanted to ask you is, what do you wish more people knew or understood or asked about things like spinal cord injury or wheelchair use in general? Because obviously it's not just spinal cord injuries that people with an SCI that use a wheelchair. There's lots of other conditions and reasons that people might. But what do you wish people knew about kind of like wheelchair users and things like that? What do you wish they would ask or do that they don’t.

Ella Beaumont (41:17.608)

So there's lots of different things but the first one would be is your communication. Basically that disabled person knows their body the best. They know their whole medical history, they've been through it all, they know what their body can and can't do. So I want, I wish people knew that it's okay to ask them what they can't do and what they can't do. Don't just assume and don't try and know it all because they actually know their body the better than you know their body work with them is more like a teamwork situation where you have to kind of be a bit like, play the bit of the educate, like be educated, that's what I'm going to get at. So let them tell you all about it and you learn from them and listen because I think listening is really important. But then in a medical term, I would love people to know a bit more about medical conditions like autonomic dysreflexia if you've got a spinal cord injury which is when if you're T6 and above, it's when your medical pain receptors tell you you're in pain, but in a different way. So for example, some people might get high blood pressure. Some people might get severe headaches. They might get severe sweating. And it's important to know about that because if you're training someone with a spinal cord injury and suddenly their blood pressure shoots up and they don't know why then you need to work with them to find out where that pain is and what's happening because it is potentially life threatening. And a lot of people don't know about it. Even paramedics don't really know about it sometimes and things like that. you can have all the fitness, the first aid qualifications under the sun, but actually autonomic dysreflexia is extremely dangerous that people don't know about. So that's a good one to have bit of awareness on.

Sarah (42:48.536)

Yeah, can I just jump in on the course? Ella suddenly said, are you going to talk about autonomic dysreflexia? I said, my next slide. But it is something, it is something, you know, that, ask about it. Do you experience it? Is there a trigger? Because it could be things like a full bag or tight clothing. There could be any number of things. And it's. Yeah, you know, and if you can't feel that your trainers are too tight, you're in trouble.

Ella Beaumont (43:08.967)

Sorry.

their new trainers might be too tight on their feet you know yeah

Sarah (43:30.745)

So things like that. So definitely asking about the more specifics, you know, what, but I always say, what can, what can you definitely do? What can you absolutely definitely not do? And what's the bit in the middle that we're going to work on? Because I think it's, it's that kind of understanding that, that don't assume, don't assume that every wheelchair user cannot walk because some might be able to do some short gaps.

Ella Beaumont (43:46.961)

Yeah.

Sarah (43:59.405)

So it's about asking questions, isn't it? It's about really getting to know someone.

Ella Beaumont (44:02.374)

Yeah and it's a fine line to like not not treat them as fragile if you know what mean like actually disabled people's bodies are really resilient and they've been through a lot and they're not just going to break if you touch them so sometimes they might be able to get out of their wheelchair and get on the floor and do some exercises on the floor and that can be really beneficial for them so yeah it's talking to them and saying what can you do are you comfortable with this are you not and work together and learn from each other I think is best way yeah.

Sarah (44:31.193)

And that's it, isn't it? At the end of the day, you your clients, the expert on themselves and their condition. And, you know, we have some information as instructors, but we're going to tap into their knowledge and experience of themselves. And that's really going to help us to work together and, like I said, create a much more inclusive fitness environment for people. Because, I mean, let's be honest, if you find a really good instructor who can work with people with disabilities, you're going to tell your friends and your family and everybody about it. It's a very loyal group, but it's also a group that will talk. So bad experience, they'll talk. Good experience, they'll talk. And I know this is something that I think a lot of people forget is the power of word of mouth. So having instructors like you, we need more, Ellis, everywhere, because we need that kind of open-mindedness, that give it a go attitude.

Ella Beaumont (45:01.895)

100 %

Sarah (45:30.093)

And you know what, sometimes you give it a go and it doesn't work. And it's like, okay, we'll rule that out. Yeah, we'll do that again. Yeah. And it's...

Ella Beaumont (45:34.489)

okay and I think that's okay to know that yeah yeah yeah I've had so many disasters so like I always set my one of my ears as well as if they can move it you can work it so if there's a muscle in there that is moving slightly I want to work it in every way I can and but sometimes I'll set someone up on a machine get it all perfect and then be like no you can't that's not working at all let's how can we do that slightly differently what else can we do instead and so that's okay that's fine we just need to learn from it and move on

Sarah (45:45.079)

Yeah, but that's it you learn from it, you know, and they always say, it's not like, my goodness, that's awful. It's you say, right, okay, so we know we can't do that. Could we adapt it or do we actually need to?

Ella Beaumont (46:04.295)

So, yeah.

Ella Beaumont (46:13.608)

We have a little bit of a giggle about it, so that's not working, is it? And move on.

Sarah (46:17.933)

Yeah, but it's like anything, isn't it? It's something that everybody experiences, whether they're able-bodied or disabled, is you'll try something and it just doesn't happen, whereas you try something a different way or on a different day and you think, actually, maybe I could do it this way, maybe I could adapt, maybe I could use this. And that's what it's all about, isn't it? Is working kind of holistically with people, energy levels, abilities, disability.

Ella Beaumont (46:26.503)

100%.

Sarah (46:47.617)

the lot. It's all about working with the client and kind of getting to the best outcome. And that's what we want. haven't even, well, you're going to have to come on because I want to know more about, you know, some of your TV stuff and everything. But for now, thank you so much, Ella, for coming along. Where can people find you if they want to find out more about you? I will put links up.

Ella Beaumont (46:56.507)

Definitely, definitely.

Ella Beaumont (47:10.739)

I'd love to hear from people. Yeah, no, I'd love to hear from people. It's always nice. I mean, I'm a big chatty person. Obviously, you can tell it's gone on quite a long time this episode, sorry. But they can find me on my website, which is ellabeept.co.uk. So it's BEE for BEE.co.uk. I'll put the link in with 

Sarah (47:30.797)

I'll have the link as well,

Ella Beaumont (47:32.589)

or my YouTube channel which you can type in LVPT as well and all my workouts will come up. I released a workout every week for about two years and there's over about 200 workouts that are a variety of different abilities. Some are a little bit harder, some are a bit easier. They're all about 20 to 30 minutes long. So know that you don't have loads of time in your day and some use equipment, some don't use any equipment at all. So hopefully it caters for all kinds of abilities and I have people all over the world contacting me about these and saying thank you so much, I love them. So hopefully they're useful and if you do want to work further with me then my email and everything is on the website so please do get in touch.

Sarah (48:09.379)

And I thoroughly recommend Ella, she's somebody who, it isn't just about experience and knowledge, but you're always looking for new evidence, new research, but new ways of doing things. And I think that's, it's something that, you know, a lot of people are nervous that they'll be pushed into a sort of traditional type of exercising, whereas you're actually much more about making it fit the individual rather than the individual fit the program. It's kind of, okay, let's do what you want, but things like that. So, Ella, thank you so much for coming on. I think we're gonna have to cut you back on again to talk about more things, definitely. you've been listening.

Ella Beaumont (48:50.566)

Well thank you because it's been really nice to build a connection with you and also just talk to someone quite like-minded with me so it's really nice.

Sarah (48:59.755)

It's yeah, I mean, as I say, I've lived and worked with people with various disabilities all my life. So to me, I'm lucky in a way in that it's just part of how I've grown up is just accepting that people do this, they do that.

Ella Beaumont (49:12.39)

But you get it. There's a lot of barriers that we face and I face as a fitness personal trainer. So it's just nice and refreshing to find someone who gets it. And I like that. So thank you.

Sarah (49:21.689)

Yeah, it's yeah, memories of pushing my dad's wheelchair around and realizing that we can get him into the toilet, but we can't get him back out again. no, we've all stories like that. my goodness, what do do now? But thank you so much for coming on and thank you guys for listening to Creating Active Lives with me, Therabalitha and my guest this week, Ella Beaumont. It's been really, really good to talk to you. And I think this you are the absolute kind of epitome of

Ella Beaumont (49:25.786)

Yeah, we'll figure that one out in a minute.

Sarah (49:50.969)

creating an active life through fitness, through sports, activity generally and you just kind of inspire me to you know I don't have a disability, I know I could do more and I've got no excuse really so you know hopefully you will inspire others but you've definitely inspired me so thank you Ella it's been really really good to talk to you and I know we'll talk again as well so thank you very much.

Ella Beaumont (50:12.378)

No, thank you.