The Palsy Podcast - Episode 23 - Sam James

Ciaran is joined on episode 23 of 'The Palsy Podcast' by fitness professional Sam James. Sam is a fitness instructor passionate about making fitness more accessible for people who attend her classes and PT sessions. 

Inclusfit

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

And welcome to the POV podcast with me killing. I will play like uh podcast. I'm deciding to interview interesting people who have been poly from Wheels and beyond every day and beyond. If you like this episode, please stay tuned for more three months and like and share. Now enjoy this episode of the Palsy Podcast. Hello and welcome to episode 23 of the Palsy Podcast with me, Keandrich Schild. So the Palsy Podcast is a podcast that I'm making to mark self-palsy renaissance, which is March in the UK. And I every day in March I'm talking to interesting people who have CP. Thank you for listening and for watching however we go taking in this podcast. And today I'm delighted to be joined by Sam James. Hi Sam, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Hi Ken, I'm okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Really good, thank you. Thank you so much for giving up your time and coming on. Um I'm gonna kind of start with how I normally open up these. Ask you what was it like growing up as a kid with CP and was there a moment where you first felt you were different?

SPEAKER_02 1:48

So growing growing up, I I always went to mention school, so obviously I was always the what the class is the token disabled person. Um I was the only one of the three disabled people in growing up, but there might be one or two I had one in a year above me with Down syndrome, but apart from that, I was the only one with a physical disability. Um and obviously I I as you will probably be aware, I like physio is uh is quite grueling, it is quite intense. And um I can't all I can remember is really going out of class, it had to be taken out of class to have PE, uh not PE have physio because obviously it is the the physio is coming to school to give it to you. And I remember it's still it's even today it's still I can run and joke with my friends because they loved it. I used to have one friend that could come out to physio with me so that I was in I remember that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

I that was hell.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

So they think like I've been segregated, so I still had a friend with me, so I was still being included that that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

But I do I don't know if it was the same with you, but all my fans would kind of compete for which one of them got taken out to go with me to the video with it the same video.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah, they did. They were like, Oh, who's she gonna queue today? I had to think I had to queue someone different every week, it could be the same one every week. I had to like queue someone different every week to make it fair. Even today, well, like in our mid-40s, they still talk about that, they still remember it because to them, they're like, Yes, I get to avoid PE, I get to go again.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

And and you you went to mainstream school, so did your family have to fight for that? Did they have to battle?

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Um, so um we not so much as in the y when I was younger at the infant school and primary school, but in my area, um my mum is a teacher as well, so literally the school she taught her at had like a specialist unit for physical disabilities, and that was the one that I was meant to go to. But my mum one my mum didn't want me to go to the school that she taught at because she wanted to help me to grow up without the mum being teacher at the school and specialist having like so-called specialist treatment. But she didn't want me to go into the unit for physical disabilities because she wanted me to grow up as independent as possible. She knew that once I leave school we all had to like go to work, live life, and she she had to fight to get me into the school that my brother was at. So that luckily that's how she got me in, that it was a fight, literally with like the alley and everything to get me into that school, but she used it to say that my brother was in there, my nan lived down the road, so that that is how she got me into that school basically.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Um it's been like that I think now like it's almost like people are fighting for the right support still. And it's quite maddening to find that it's still going on, people are still having to battle.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

It is. Uh I I had to I was very lucky because I had like the school put lucky when I went to school it was not adapted in any way. They had to put handrails in and all the steps outside and they're still there, they're still in, they're still being used, and it's because of me that they were put in because I can't go up I can I'm independent I can walk, but I can't go up steps without holding on to something. So they had to go with the handrails in and everything. And the school that I went to it had a DSL unit, so they were sort of had deaf students there. So they sort of and had some understanding of accessibility, but not in the respect of a physical disability. So I had two TAs, um uh two part-time TAs, I had a TA with me, so I can remove around school without being pressed over and not. I was allowed to leave the lessons five minutes earlier so I can get ahead time, so that I avoid the mad rush. So and uh I did yeah, I it I wasn't a big fan of school, I didn't really enjoy it. Um I think because I only had a a small group of friends and obviously being different from everyone else and Did you did you experience any bullying or any different? I did have billions, so um and you know I quite it's only in year I think it's year eight or year nine that I had a billion so it's quite in a younger year, so but I do I did experience that and it's from someone that I grew up with all my life. I've been to every single school with them. So it is harder to exp to actually experience a billion from someone that you thought was your friend that turned against you when you were like going into the teenage years and and that really and I really couldn't wait to I I went into the sixth form at the end of school and I had a completely different experience of the sixth form.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Oh that's like yeah that's positive.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

I had a really good experience of the sixth form, so it's the best decision for me. But it just goes to say that being around the right people and and the people because in the sixth form it is only to that tree that stays and it is the right ones that got you know the ones that accepted me from me, and being around people that accept you for you and treat you like they would treat anyone else, it makes a huge difference.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

It's so important to have people you can rely on, good friends, yes, who know you, who get you, who you can have a bit of banter with. It's but it's never malicious, and you know that they've got your back, if any.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Exactly. And I've got that. I still friendship single films. I've got two friends that I've been friends with since I was four years old. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

And what w what were you good at in school? What did you enjoy?

SPEAKER_02 8:23

I enjoyed the more sort of practical stuff. I'm not very academic, so I enjoy the more sort of hands-on sort of subject. So I quite enjoyed like like textiles or food, like food and other things, where I can actually do something and not just sit there and listen. I wasn't very good at concentration. I w I could I found it really hard to like concentrate and take information in consciently. So actually being able to learn as you're doing it, and that's how I learn, and that's how I still learn today. I need to do something for what's really sticking up here.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

That's really interesting. I think schools now were beginning to realise that people have different ways of learning, but when you're in school, presumably that wasn't the case. Or like how did you get were you interested in like giving fit fitness physical activity when you were younger, or did that come a bit later on?

SPEAKER_02 9:28

I my brother swam, so my I was interested to swimming at like a young age. So as soon as my mum could get me in the pool, I was in the pool. I was in already in the pool, like a hydro pool for fisher terms, but then they got me into like what a mainstream pool actually swimming for a swimming club. And I I I I can't remember I haven't done that, you know what I mean? It's it's from an early age and I swim in. So it's very we were a very active family when I was younger. And I always swam and I did a couple of gardens when I was a teenager. But when I went to uni, I stopped. Yes. I got fed up.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Oh interesting.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

I guess I I don't want to swim anymore. You get to the age and I'm like, I'd done it since God knows how young I was. I don't want to do it no more, and went and got to uni, enjoyed my uni days.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

What where did you go? What did you study?

SPEAKER_02 10:26

So I went to Bath Spa University College, so the school uni in Bath, and I studied health studies and media communications.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Oh great. And did you move away from home to go to uni? Yeah, I think there's a few years. What was that experience like and what did you get?

SPEAKER_02 10:47

I had half the first year I was on site, so the uni was actually great. I had a really good they gave me the white room, the ecogram floor room, they put me in one that is closer to like the with the nearest blocks if that makes sense. So I didn't have so much spar to walk. Um, they were really great in terms of how assisting me. Like the my keto for the half of years is really good with me. I can't fault my uni days at all. I think anything, that's the bit that I really remember and enjoyed the most of all my like education up to 21 yeah and everything. And I know you meant to enjoy your uni days, but and I I just found friends on the first day that got me, and I'm still friends with them. And that's so important, and I think it's just by fate and accident that you meet people that you just click with, and then just they get you as well, you know, and that is really and that is I think that also helped me with uni life the fact that I found my people and uh I was their people as well, you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

I mean it's yeah, it's supposed to be and you know you know when that clicks, don't you? You know when people get you, yeah, you know when you found good men, and that in uni, especially when you're doing the same thing, interested in the same things, and then going out and stuff like that. That is so important.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

One of them actually it's interesting because one of um then Nick, I always we'd we're doing the both doing house studies and we were on the same course, and it really helped, and then we got sort of lost contact for a bit because we both moved into we both moved into different like parts of the country, and then um about six, seven years ago, she contacted me through my old job's Facebook page because and she was working with disabled people, and it's just like a whole it just got uh it's like a full circle if that makes sense. We she does she she lives half an hour away from me now, so it's it's she doesn't look too far away, but it's quite interesting how she now works with disabled people as well, and she helps advocate for disabled people, so it's just it it's like a full circle, you know what I mean? So it's good that in a way, I think have I helped that like have been.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I I think you might have had something to do with it. I think you could have like I don't like this thing of inspired all that stuff. But but but I hope you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

I do know what you mean.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Like an influenced her maybe with Yeah, yeah. Um so at that point, did you know what you wanted to do? Did you know that you wanted to be a fitness instructor?

SPEAKER_02 13:40

No, that was not on the cards at that point. So I um when I left uni, it was a case of like of anyone like oh what can what jobs can I do, what jobs I can't do? Where obviously I'm independent, but obviously I couldn't stand for too long or I get fatigued quite quickly, and I I was sort of like family-wise for going down the office admin job week. So I did that all in my twenties, again like found some good good roles, but it wasn't for me. And when I got my redundant about age thirty, I struggled to get a job. I got a job in the fact that receptionist, and when I was doing that, I realised that I loved working with people. I found what I wanted to do. I was really good at at communicating with people and um and then I think it was about 2010 when um Sumba was just getting quite big in the UK.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Um I was what and when I was younger, I always wanted to dance, but we couldn't find a dance school that would take me with my disability. If I went for trials, they would put me with three to four year olds when I was eight or nine, and I just felt like I wasn't being listened to and I just didn't sit back.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Being infantilised as well, impactonised, I suppose.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Yeah, and so I kept saying to Mum, I don't want to go back. So I never learned to dance. So when I watched this interview with the silver creator, Beto on on TV, and he was there going, Oh, we do we learn all in class, we learn all these dance styles, um, that you don't need a partner, it's for everyone, we don't care what way you move, it's it's your work out, you do what you want. And that that really pulled me in. So I said, I'm gonna go and try a class. Me and Mum went to try a class. Mum my mum hated it, I loved it. I felt like I found my cry, I was so at home, and it didn't matter what way you moved, it didn't matter if you're doing it correctly or not, you were moving in my own way.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

I felt like it is like I found my calling sort of thing. But I kept going for quite a few years and I was in a horrible relationship, and I got out of that, and then I um I cracked a bone in my shoulder joints, and for the rehab, I was going to see a fishing basically every six months. I see the arm was here, it's fishing, I couldn't move it any higher. And then the PT I still go to my cymbaclash, but just doing it one armed, I said going and um the PT in the gym said, Oh, would your official let me work with you in the gym? I said, Oh, I'll ask her. She was like, Yeah, that I know him, that's perfectly fine. And within within two weeks, I've gone from here right up here, and and then within two weeks. Yeah, going two or three times a week to the gym, and literally then within a like within under two months, I was starting to notice that my not only was my arm improving, but my cyber porcelain was improving. Yeah, I was my walking got better, I was falling over less, I was like getting stronger within myself, and even at the start always wasn't as bad as it was beforehand. So things were improving, and then one day he said to me, Well, have you thought about doing this for a job? And I said, Yes, I have. I went I wanted to turn to be a symphonic instructor quite a few years ago. Yeah, but my ex my son put me off, he said you can't do that because you're disabled. And obviously, you listen to the people that uh yeah, yeah. And and he goes, No, no, no, no, you'll be really good at all people. So I he told me what qualifications I needed. So then I obviously was Googling it. And that there used to be a funder project called Instructivity, and that popped up, and I was looking at it, going, This sounds too good to be true for anybody to train. And so I applied. I went in the gym and I spoke to the gym manager, she said, Oh no, no, no, this is kosher. And she told me, like, go for it. Because and it also had like um I had a three-month work session I had to do in the gym afterwards, and she said, Oh, you can do it here, because you put my name down, it's fine. So I didn't and um one day got woken up at like half six in the morning saying that I had an interview for the course. I went on read down to Guildford, had the interview, and I got on, and two weeks later I've I started it, and then two months later I qualified and just uh so it happened really quickly, but it sounds like Yeah, you did because the course is quite quick anyway, yeah. And I thrived on it, and also but when I got accepted onto the course, and I sit like with my PT, he started to talk to me in technical language, not the normal language, so he started more technical with me. So I would pick things up before I did the course to help me out, and it really did help me out because when I started the course, things get sorted into place. It's like, oh, that's what that means.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

But yeah And I think I don't know if you listened to the episode with Taya when Taya came on to her and place who's also a PT. But what she was saying was having a PT herself who got it, because she's had she had experiences in the past where they were afraid to kind of push her because of her CP, but then having someone who got it, who understood it, who opened that line of communication really made the difference. Was that the case for you?

SPEAKER_02 19:38

It is, it's exactly the case. So before, you know, sometimes you go to gyms, you get a free pot, you get like a free induction and everything, and it's gonna free induction for good. And I'd be in, and suddenly they only put me on the stuff like a cost trainer or the treadmill, and they never ever would put me on anything else. It's like they're too scared to or they didn't know what to do. So when I met Luke, who was my old PT, he got me on every bit of kit that I could actually get on. He wasn't scared, he was a qualified rehab PT. He was like he was like, no, I he knew like he knew that I wasn't breakable basically. Um and and he always used to say, if I think you got the look of and we haven't tried it, and if you think you can do it, we'll do it. If you're not sure, we'll have a go and we'll see if it's suitable or not. But I bet she got on most of the kit he got me on every kit and again and I go, don't like this one. And he and he knew not to put me on the cost trainer because I actually hate the cost trainer because of the FBT would be put me on the cross trainer. So I got like a a negative viewpoint of that bit of kit because that's the only bit of kit I've been on. And now I avoid it actually for me, I saw my clients on it, but for me I avoid it for my own workouts because I have this negative association with it.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

So like how did you go from that to being a PT yourself to being in the industry to do what you can do?

SPEAKER_02 21:18

I used to when I saw the difference, you and I had P this once and I had Luke and I saw the difference. And even like Luke said, there's no one there's no disabled fitness professionals around. And that is probably why the destructive building was set up, because they would be it's it was set up at Stan Law uh um by a leisure centre where they would see the odd the odd disabled person in the gym, but they never saw any qualified disabled fitness professionals around. Like they got the funding to train people up. And and I think it's also the fact that I think when you've got a disability you actually understand disabled people more. Whereas I find that non-disabled people don't always they say they understand it but they won't because they haven't lived in our shoes.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

And it comes from that lived experience of having lived with a disability.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

And I've got yeah, I've got a client who was under like a rehab PT who didn't understand cerebral palsy and she was being pushed on her down so the the days that we can't really do much. That makes sense. I can't and she goes, you're a long week you could do it, why can't you do it this week? And literally in fact bullied her that she couldn't go back in the gym again and she was like really scared to work with another PT. Um she came to me and I've been working with her for three years now and literally in that November last year she stepped foot back in the gym. Wow that's I built I really worked with her on a competence building her up to say look you don't you can go to the gym with someone in that gym you can't just go in for a workout you don't have to have a PT or nothing or regular PT. You can just go in for a general workout and do and as I said and I sort of worked with her on what machines to use in a gym everything and she's not gonna go in there all the time but she's got a friend that's got a day pass and she wants to go with them she now can because she's got the confidence to actually go in there.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

How much of it do you think is about confidence?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

A a big a big amount a bit I think also I think sometimes I think disabled people don't always see that they can work out. I think because they see all these non-disabled like influences or or people like Jim Licks that are very much able bodied gym burpees jumping jacks they always see that workouts have to be like an hour long.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

And they don't have to be an hour long it could be just when the kettle's boiling doing some bicep curls or doing some triceps you know I mean you can do that whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil and that's all it takes and it's not about a high intense rapids class. It could be gardening it could be walking it you know it could be just something to do when you're watching TV. It doesn't have to be a structured session if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Do it in a way that works for you.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

So like how do you adapt sessions for your clients whether they're disabled or not presumably all of your clients have got an individual plan yep yep that that's and that's I that's one thing that I sort of say because a group of PTs sort of have a standard program that they get to every client I don't do that. Every client has a completely different program that's designed around them how they move which is important because when you're working with people with power conditions and disabilities everyone moves in a completely different way. Um what their goals are you want to work with their goals so if they just want to maintain their current level of disability or if they want to improve on at their what they're doing now or if they want to lose weight if they want to do something else or if they just want to avoid using a wheelchair for a year or two longer that's what you work on basically so I tailor tailor every program to that individual client and uh presumably you work with non-disabled you work with non-disabled people have you experienced any discrimination or ableism from clients who maybe we're not expecting a PT a disabled PT maybe not in a PT sense but I have well I also teach Greek fitness classes and I came I that's what I started to do also I taught Greek fitness classes before I PT'd and when I started teaching like Sumba and I started I I was told to cover classes before I got a class to give you that experience so you can practice and it's not your own class if that makes sense. So and I was covering different instructors and I remember covering one class and the whole exact five rows two of two rows two of back rows walked out and and then in another class you know they see you they and suddenly you see you doing the warm up and they just walk out and and literally I think there is an association that oh she's disabled how can she teach us um but actually when I have even some people that have done the class and maybe had a few reservations so to speak come up to me at the end and say oh my god you just give me the best workout I've ever had because obviously I had to make sure my fervor queuing is on point. Use a microphone as well to make this on and you have to because I can't rely on my body saying what to do because yes I think I'm doing a leg curl but what that leg curl looks like to other people it's not what they call a leg curl. So I have to really like make sure that my fertile queue in is to the point and it says it's actually what they want to do on the tin but actually when they they get that they are being worked really really well and as Sullivan said they get a better workout with me and a non-disabled fitness instructor.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

And you know But that must give you so much confidence and pride in what yeah it does it does and now coming teaching for like 13 years I've now um got a very good loyal like class based recovery can make out a lot of my classes are sold out at pretty book every week. Um I've learnt over the years to put a lot of my personality into my teaching but be you've got to have that banter with the ladies um and the mic I'll banter with them during class and they want that. That's what they want during classes that's what's gonna help pull them back in.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

That's very similar to what my mum says about her classes if she can have a laugh if people are laughing if people are having fun and thinking to enjoy they'll come back next week.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

They'll work on week after when I when I have a new person come into class I always talk to them like privately at the start a little chat with them and I always tell them especially a lot of people say I can't do Cimba I've got no coordination or you don't need coordination and I always say to them I don't care what you're doing I don't care what way you're moving as long as you're doing it safely I just want you to move and have fun.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

And that's what it should be about.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

If they're getting uh uh benefit be it physical or or for their mental health or enjoyment their body will move in the way that their body moves and and that is and a lot of people do great fitness classes more for the social element than the exercise element. They try to be around other people. They want to be uh they want to exercise with other people more for the social element of it. If they want to get a workout I find they go to the gym.

unknown 29:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

But those are kind of exercise you want the social element they want that company of other people and have a laugh and enjoy being around them.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

And you've you've also worked with some fitness brands to make them more accessible. Who have you worked with and what was their collaboration like what did you do? What did you put in place?

SPEAKER_02 30:23

Yeah I've worked with like Cleveland so clever size is like uh a fitness class like a way bits hard to ray bits in the dark with grace so I've worked with them on and I trained up some disabled instructors for them um and I do I've done a little bit of education around um instructors so to say not because basically fitness professionals you can't exclude anyone from a class you can't teach a specialist class about the disability qualification but you can't you can't um just not have someone because of that it it goes against the Quality Act. Um and that so it's about making sure a lot of a lot of instructors if they say no to a disabled client it's not the fact that they don't want to have him it's the fact that they don't know how to talk to them they don't know what language to use they are scared of offending them and that that's the feedback I've had over the last 12, 13 years and I say well you just talk to them like anyone else if you've got some of a bad back you ask them what that back you ask them all these questions about that bad back yet you had someone with a disability come in yet you struggle to talk ask them exactly the same questions. If you would ask them exactly the same questions so it's about the education about don't be scared about how you talk to them just be frank, be honest, ask them what they can do, don't ask them what they can't do. You and just you know trying to things in place to make their experience a positive one because up to now they've probably had a bad experience of lack of accessible venues, lack of understanding instructors and or the fact that it's not the instructors, it could be other people in the class. So making sure that the other participants are aware that they've got like say balance issues or they need to sit down and they just need to work with you and not bump into them or be aware just be aware of them. Yeah I've certainly and I still work with some I'm still working with other brands I w I've been working with Panas and Social Dance Fitness on like how they can become more accessible for different disability groups is good.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

Is that part of the focus group or is that something separate so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Can you talk about the focus group what that is and what areas are what is it's um it was set we recently set up for instructibility and then when they um dissolved because they had no more funding they um was put to all the governing bodies to come together and they had things the ex graduates from instructibility on the focus group so there was there's two to three of us on the focus group. So it's about making sure that gyms, later centres and even community fitness is very accessible to making sure that disabled people can participate in either a fitness like this it's a gym or a like a fitness class in a gym or community setting that it's also about making sure there's opportunities for disabled people to have the right training to become qualified instructors have that support but also that they um can actually work in the industry and get work for a big gym or a big chain if that's the if that's the avenue they want to go down. So it's it's still a long way off I'm not gonna lie it's it's not the the fitness industry is quite a complex industry as you probably know from your mum so it's not an it's not gonna be an overnight thing but surely together when you've got like four or five government bodies sat around a table and you're talking it helps create the change it helps get it talking about and and and I'm I'm all up I've always been about making the industry as accessible for disabled people as possible and yeah it's it's it's come it has improved in the last thirteen years. It's got a I'm not gonna lie it's got a long way to go but from when I first started to now it has it's got a lot better. It's got a lot better. Yes it's not a hundred percent but what is a hundred percent but we've got a long way to go but we are getting there and there is more and more um disabled people qualifying as PTs, blue critic instructors and getting that support they need to qualify, teach and get out there.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

What's the biggest thing that could be done? What's the biggest change that you want to see in the industry if you could pick one thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Put your own thought now so the one the one thing I always advocate is regardless if a fitness professional's got a disability or not they need to have a disability the it's got a level three design exercise programmes for disabled clients qualification. I actually don't actually be compulsory it's not compulsory it's up to the individual to get that qualification but I think that qualification should be standard within the package when you first qualify regardless of what level two you do or level three it should be it should be standard because nowadays there is more what's the word there's more disabled people than non-disabled people if you can those all have health conditions those that are being diagnosed with medical conditions every day um we are now overtaking the non-disabled people yet the fitness industry is a little bit behind and this the qualification is not seen as important but to me it is because you need to if without the qualification you're not insult to work with disabled clients don't understand the the what is dangerous with certain disabilities what not to do with certain disabilities and there's some disabilities so that some exercises are a complete no go area so it's knowing that as well you can't bring it unit you cannot ring it with disabled people. Because I I've I spoke to people with CP that have gone to a non-disability a a standard trainer yeah and their CP's been made worse and they can no longer walk. So that for me is why I think it's really important because I've seen the opposite side of it. Yeah. And you know I think a lot of PCs don't realise the damage that can be caused by not understanding the disability at heart.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Yeah. And and and and that comes from I guess not being afraid to have those conversations and listening like we said before to the lived experience of your client and learning how their body works.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

And look you know I cuter the disability coffee well I cut to it another Sarah, another tutor and literally we always say the one thing we always say is get to know your client always get to know your client because they will tell you a lot of the stuff you need to know even without you ask you can ask one question and get a million answers from it. Literally and they will just let them guide you because they will tell you what you need to know basically like their movement how they move you know and that'll give you a guideline to know what to do with them not what to do with them what they want to keep out from working with you.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

But that that's that is the one thing it is get to know the client and I mean to move on slightly because we are coming to the end but we've got one two more questions like you you run an online class called NeuroHit.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Can you explain what NeuroHit is and if people want to get involved how they can get involved So I um it I during lockdown I wanted to do a a class for myself and I tried different ones and um I I before COVID hit I actually thought I had the flu but I think it was COVID without me knowing that and I had a lot of issues with my breathing after it. So I try to do a HIIT class because HIIT was being proven to be quite good if people had long COVID and everything.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

So literally I So if people don't if people don't know what a HIIT class is it's like a circuit class isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Similar to it's a it's called high hit means high interval high impact interval training. It means it you it is you do like say you have like rounds and you can have one round of six exercises you do 40 seconds on 20 seconds off so you do that three to four times how many rounds you've got so it's a short intense class basically so you can do it as high or you've got lit which is low impact interval training. So you can either do it high or low you can do it wherever how you want basically and um but when I was looking for one every one I found is full of burpees getting on the floor, getting off the floor getting on the floor and I just couldn't physically the time I was on the floor they're off the floor again and I missed like look I I I couldn't really join in the class properly because obviously I I was too busy getting up up and down off the floor.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:33

So in the end I just created my own. So it can it's a no it's basically it means it's no floor work in my hit class. You could do it stood up, you could do it sat down you do it your way. So I um and mine it's I called it neurohits because I aim can qualify to work those with neurological conditions that I aim I aim it more to them because there is a link that hit style classes is very good for neurological conditions. It's got a lot of good that comes out of it.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

So um and and also is it is that in terms of neuroplasticity and and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

Because it can it helps with you can help with your specificity um it helps improve the um the neural pathway from the brain to the body it helps speed up it can actually um make help loosen tight muscles and it's nice about a thing on the spot without me having to think too much. But um because it um scientific research it's gone into how good it is for newer newer conditions. And I started it in lockdown because obviously we were all online teaching online then and I continued it because I was hitting people with C P all over the all over I literally all over the country and even now I've got people from like Aberdeen to Wales you know I and you know literally I've had like clients all over the country come on every month so it's Monday nights 6 pm on Steam so so it's um over six pound a class pairs ago or four four for twenty pound. It's literally half an hour match that includes us talking as well so because there's other people with CP on there I start everyone sort of touch a little chat at the start about how our week how we got on with our week and it's quite good because there's some people that go oh I I've had issues with orthotics have you had issues with orthotics um literally they they really help support each other and they sort of what's the word they sort of can feed off if one person's gone oh actually I did this and I had this issue but I went here you know I mean it they can help or or oh I need to I need to see something about which department do I need to go to get referred to it's it's like a community for sharing that information helping it's not just about the class.

SPEAKER_00 43:22

That's how I feel about I play tennis and group with other disabled people we have each other that we share experiences.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

It's so important to have those um literally uh yeah so so um another exercise I even have people that if they can't do a sitting exercise they'll just sit that one out because it's we only do it for 40 seconds so they can just sit it out. So it's up to the person on if you were c if you come and joined it's up to you on how much you do, how little you do. It's your workout at the end of the day. I'm just the conductor showing you what to do.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

And like if people want to book on if people want to get involved how they do that, can you send me the link so that I can put it in the description?

SPEAKER_02 44:11

Yeah, they get you mess yeah, they get message me on my either email me or message me on on Facebook page and please click it and then I'll book them on that way and I'll go and I'll message them with all the like payment details so yeah. Bab so if you're interested please do get involved with what Sam does get you on K one have a good yeah I will I will I play tennis on a Monday night which is annoying but uh if it will not well you haven't got tennis yeah I'll pop along I've really enjoyed this Sam it's been really cool to get to know you and what you've been doing is amazing for the fitness industry my last question is what is one thing only one thing that you wish people knew about CP that we are just like everyone else we live our lives exactly like non-disabled people we can have relationships we have feelings we can do anything we put our minds to there's nothing that we cannot do.

SPEAKER_00 45:15

It's just treat us like everyone else basically don't treat us any differently thank you so much that's a lovely point to end thank you for thank you for having me thank you for joining me it's been really lovely and thank you for tuning in to this episode of Bolshevast thank you uh to Sam for joining me and I hope you'll listen to the next episode we've got uh only a few left for the end of the month so please like subscribe share and comment on YouTube Spotify Apple Podcast wherever you get your your media but for now it's goodbye from me and goodbye from Sam. Goodbye thank you for listening to this episode of the Palsy Podcast with me, Kean Fitzgerald I want to thank my guests for joining me and I hope that you'll stay tuned to the next episode and more throughout my thank you