Tommy’s healthy perspective: fitness for everybody
In his first article for Source Kids, Tommy Trout shares his personal story of helping his autistic brother, Jackson, adopt a healthier lifestyle. He details the challenges they faced, the barriers they overcame, and the journey that led to the creation of his inclusive fitness initiative.
I’ll never forget sitting at my dad’s funeral, looking over at my little brother and making a promise to myself that Jackson would not follow in his dad’s footsteps.
I’ll never be able to emotionally distance myself from that moment.
My dad and little brother are on the autism spectrum and over a decade ago now my old man passed away from what could be termed very preventable health conditions. My little brother Jackson was following in his footsteps and there was nothing pulling him in the other direction.
So, I promised I would teach him the value of health and fitness, and Jackson to his credit slowly (very slowly) embraced a healthier lifestyle. Like many carers with family on the spectrum, I had to go at his speed. It took months to hold a conversation about it, get him to visit a gym, and even more to workout inside it.
Walks, diet modifications, strength training, routine keeping (a strength of his) and other strategies successfully turned the tide! Jackson lost weight (around 12 kgs), learned to love a healthier lifestyle and now he thinks he’s fitter than me! Most importantly, these habits and the health thinking that go along with them are autonomous now, it’s how he does things.
I’M PROUD OF HIM
Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Jack got to that point in his health, and I didn’t. We had the same childhood in many regards. The big difference between us was the label – his diagnosis. Jack was autistic and I wasn’t. From there, different standards and expectations were thrust upon us on all sides, family, community, school, etc. For me, health was sport, staying active, not putting on too much weight; for Jack health was speech therapy and medication.
SAME CHILDHOOD, DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES, VERY DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS
The original intention, however, wasn’t for me to train Jackson but for us to find a PT that would be able to do it, but we ran into all too familiar road-blocks: “we’re not a special needs gym”, “I’m not a special needs trainer”, “I don’t think our insurance will let a disabled person in” etc. We eventually got memberships at our local Anytime Fitness that had an incredibly inclusive manager. I took myself off to get qualified as a Personal Trainer and we were off to the races (squat rack).
As a PT, I was encouraged to be registered with the peak body AUSactive and to remain registered I had to complete continuing education credits (CECs). I looked up disability-specific training and guess how many courses I found? Go on, guess! There was none, zilch, nada. That’s where my first company WeFlex originated from; my desire to educate the industry.
I wrote courses on support needs (not labels) and co-designed it with people with lived experience and clinicians. We also delivered fitness services.
I’ve since left WeFlex – which is now at 1,000 clients – and have started Inclusive-AF. The AF of course standing for Accessible and Fun! After leaving WeFlex and spending some time on the couch looking at Netflix’s catalogue as a personal challenge, I found I was being called by many allied health professionals asking for help with vocational training. I always assumed – I know – that these fancy degrees would have comprehensive sections on disability, and it turns out: not really.
So now I’m kinda doing the same thing with Inclusive-AF, continuing in creating education for the industry on meeting support needs, moving past the label which tells you very little about the person and focus on what they NEED. It’s a new business and I’m building the plane in the air, but I’m partnering with my brother Jackson. There is no way to explain the joy I feel in building this business with him. Our mission is simply to continue in our work to make health and fitness truly inclusive for every body.
SO WHY AM I IN SOURCE KIDS MAGAZINE?!
If I have two passions in this world (outside of my cat) it’s education and health/fitness. I am currently undergoing study in health science and my desire to educate goes beyond teaching professionals. My family had problems with health and fitness as it relates to members with disability, and I don’t believe that’s uncommon. So, the aim is to contribute to this magazine as a regular columnist – providing what I hope are useful pieces on navigating health, habits, exercise and more, in ways that are inclusive of everyone.
I believe, and have seen first-hand, that the benefits of regular exercise and healthy living are far broader than many people realise – there’s also compelling, albeit limited, research on the unique impact exercise can have on people’s lived experience with disability. Too often, I’ve heard that exercise is impossible for certain people, which isn’t true. If you have a body and ANY ability to move any part of it, you can exercise. Beyond that, there are many habits that are inexpensive, simple, and accessible for every single person.
My job will be to break them down and provide the tools required for any body wanting to improve their or their loved one’s health and fitness.
With the limited space I have left here are some quick-fire ways to improve your health until my next article.
• Get 8 hours of sleep or as close to that as possible, as importantly, be as consistent with bedtimes and routine as well.
• Spending quality time with loved ones is good for your health. Being active with them even more so!
• If you don’t know where to start with exercise, your first priority is to train your consistency. Pick a time every day where you go for a walk or a roll. The workout is secondary to training your ability to show up.
Thanks for reading and what I’d REALLY love is to get your questions or requests. What would you like to know more about? Or perhaps you have a specific situation you’d like advice on. Chances are you’re not alone, so don’t be shy.
Tommy Trout, Inclusive-AF inclusive-af.com
