THE POSITIVE GINGER

Not every gym session feels empowering. Not every week feels productive and not every day starts with motivation. That’s something I wish I’d heard more when I first started going to the gym. So far in this series, I’ve shared the wins, the adaptations, the confidence that’s slowly building — but this post is about the other side of the journey; the days when my energy is low, the days when my confidence dips and days when just getting through the gym doors feels like an achi

When I first started going to the gym, I thought the biggest challenge would be the equipment. The weights. The logistics. The physical side of things. What I didn’t expect was that the real work would be learning how to take up space. Not just physically, though that part matters, but emotionally, socially, and confidently as a powered wheelchair user in a world that often tries to make disabled people smaller, quieter, and less visible. This gym journey has been about so mu

When people talk about fitness progress, the conversation usually jumps straight to transformations. Before and after photos. Inches lost. Personal bests. Visible changes. Dramatic reveals. But here’s the truth: my journey as a powered wheelchair user in the gym doesn’t look like that and it doesn’t need to. My progress isn’t loud. It doesn’t always show up in the mirror or on a scale. Sometimes it’s so subtle I almost miss it until one day I realise something that used to fe

So far in this short series, I’ve talked about why  I train and how  I train. But there’s another part of gym life that doesn’t get talked about enough; what it’s actually like to exist in that space as a powered wheelchair user. Because going to the gym isn’t just about exercises and equipment. It’s about navigating layouts, assumptions, unspoken rules, and the occasional moment where you think, “Was this room designed by someone who’s never met a wheelchair?” This post is a

After sharing the start of my journey, I wanted this next post to get practical. One of the biggest barriers I faced when first going to the gym was simply not knowing where to start. Most workout plans assume you can stand, stabilise your lower body, or hop between machines without thinking. That wasn’t my reality, or the reality of many powered or manual wheelchair users and trying to follow those plans left me feeling more frustrated than motivated. But over time and with

If you’ve ever entered a gym in a wheelchair, you’ll know exactly how many eyes suddenly discover you’re the most interesting thing in the room. It’s like people can’t decide whether they want to help, stare, or pretend they didn’t almost trip over their own feet trying to make space. For a long time, that alone was enough to keep me out of the gym. Fitness spaces often feel designed for just one type of body and mine wasn’t it. But eventually, the desire to get stronger outw