The First Chapter: What This Gym Journey Has Really Given Me - So Far...

When I started going to the gym, I thought I was chasing strength and too lose weight. To have stronger arms, better endurance and abody that could do more and one I felt more confident with.

But as I come to the end of this series, I realise I wasn’t only building muscle. I was building something much harder to measure.

Belief, confidence, and ownership and a sense of belonging in spaces I once felt excluded from.

This is the final post in this current series - a pause at the end of a chapter. Not an ending, but a moment to look back at how far I’ve come in the last 7 months.

I Started With Doubt

I didn’t enter the gym feeling brave or fearless, I entered with questions.

• Would the equipment work for me?

• Would I feel out of place?

• Would people stare?

• Would I even know what I was doing?

Most fitness spaces aren’t designed with wheelchair users in mind, and for a long time, that message seeped in quietly: maybe this isn’t for you.

However, I’m learning that the absence of access does not mean the absence of belonging, sometimes it just means the world hasn’t caught up yet.

Strength Has Become Something Deeper

At first, I thought strength would look like numbers, more weight, more reps with visible progress.

Yes, I am stronger physically.

But the biggest changes have been quieter:

• Feeling more capable in my body

• Trusting myself in unfamiliar spaces

• Advocating for what I need without apology

• Learning that progress doesn’t have to be dramatic to be real

  
  

Strength isn’t just what you lift, it is also showing up in a world that wasn’t built with you in mind and refusing to shrink.

Support Changed Everything

This journey hasn’t been something I’ve done alone. I've had the support of a wonderful personal trainer and family to keep me motivated.

Claudia has been such a fundamental part of this journey, not just as my personal trainer, but as someone who genuinely believes in me. Yes, she’s designed workouts that work for my body and she’s built structure into my sessions through her app so I can track progress and stay accountable. But what she’s given me goes far beyond sets and reps too.

She’s created a space where adaptation isn’t something I have to apologise for, it’s simply normal. Where I’m not the “exception,” just a person training. She’s celebrated the small wins, noticed improvements I would have overlooked, and reminded me of what I’m capable of on the days I doubted myself.

Beyond the gym floor, she’s been there in a way that means even more - just a text message away.

Whether it’s encouragement before a session, reassurance after a tough week, or simply checking in, her support hasn’t stopped when the workout ends. She’s not just helped me grow stronger physically but she’s helped me grow stronger in belief, confidence, and self-trust.

Having someone in your corner like that doesn’t just change your training, it changes how you see yourself.

I also can't forget my brother-in-law James, training with him has brought something equally important: connection, laughter, motivation and the reminder that fitness doesn’t always have to feel serious or solitary, it can be shared, supportive, and even fun.

Having people beside you doesn’t make the journey easier, it makes it sustainable.

The Gym Has Taught Me About Taking Up Space

As a powered wheelchair user, you are visible in the gym because there is no blending in.

At first, that visibility felt heavy, like I had to earn my place there.

But over time, I’ve realised something: I don’t need to justify my presence.

• Disabled bodies do not exist outside of fitness

• We do not exist outside of strength.

• We do not exist outside of health, ambition, or progress.

  
  

I am not taking up space that belongs to someone else, I am taking up space that always should have included me.

Progress Hasn’t Been Perfect - And That Matters Too

There have been weeks where motivation dipped, and sessions that felt hard.

Like everyone, I've had moments where illness forced me to slow down and I’ve learned that listening to my body is not weakness, it’s wisdom.

Rest is part of strength. Sustainability is part of progress.

This journey was never about perfection but it was about showing up honestly, and building something that lasts.

What I Hope This Series Has Shown

If you take anything from these posts, I hope it’s this:

Fitness is not one-size-fits-all and strength is not reserved for certain bodies. Progress does not have to be loud to be real.

If you’re a wheelchair user, a disabled person, or anyone who has ever felt like you don’t belong in a gym…

I hope this series has made the space feel a little wider and made all this perhaps seem little more possible for you.

This Series Is Ending... But I’m Not!

This is the final post in this chapter, but it is not the end of my gym journey. If anything, it feels like the beginning.

I’m still learning, still adapting and still building confidence rep by rep.

I’m rolling into 2026 with more belief in myself than I had at the beginning. Not because I have something to prove… but because I deserve to feel strong in my body, to take up space and I deserve a future where this kind of strength is normal.

Thank you for reading, for supporting, and for being part of this first chapter.

The journey continues