Using a Fitness Center Does Not Have to be an Exercise in Frustration: Tips for People with Mobility and Visual Disabilities

1.3 Know Your Rights

Fitness centers are covered by a law called the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)³. Like other public places, fitness centers must provide equal access to the facility for people with disabilities. They must provide accessible parking, entrances, restrooms, paths of travel, signage, etc. In addition, they must not discriminate against anyone because of disability. This means, for example, they cannot deny service or refuse membership to people with disabilities.

The ADA requires that privately owned fitness centers built after 1992 must follow specific design guidelines the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Centers that were built before 1992 must remove barriers when it is “readily achievable” (That is, if it is easy to do and can be done without much difficulty or cost⁴). The size of the facility is considered when deciding what changes it needs to make. For example, a small private health club might not be able to remodel a locker room to make it accessible, but a facility, owned and operated by a large company, would have the financial resources to do so.

As a fitness center user, you have the right to ask the center to remove barriers that make it harder for you to use the facility. The ADA law can only be enforced if you bring it to the attention of the fitness center’s staff and owners. If you see a problem, you have to tell someone who has the power to make changes. Often they are not aware that barriers exist or they may not think there is a problem because no one has ever brought it to their attention.

When you tell fitness center staff about the barriers you find, it is helpful to be prepared with ideas on how to reduce or remove the barriers. This is especially true when discussing the legal ADA requirements. You may want to have an ADA checklist and other materials that explain the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) so the fitness center will understand what they may need to do to remove the barriers.

ADA Resources

• Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal – an easy-to-use survey tool to help people identify barriers in their facilities: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/checkweb.htm

• U.S. Access Board – an independent federal agency that provides extensive information on ADA Accessibility Guidelines:  http://www.access-board.gov or (800) 872-2253

  • ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Recreation Facilities, http://www.access-board.gov/recreation/final.htm

• ADA & IT Technical Assistance Centers – regional resource centers that provide information on the ADA:  http://www.dbtac.vcu.edu/ or (800) 949-4232

Fitness Center Accessibility Resources

• Access Equals Opportunity: Recreation Facilities & Fitness Centers, http://www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre/fun.htm

• AIMFREE – Uses checklists to help identify barriers in fitness centers.  http://www.ncpad.org/yourwrites/fact_sheet.php?sheet=481 or (800) 900-8086

• Exercise/Fitness: Choosing a Fitness Center, 2006. http://www.ncpad.org/exercise/fact_sheet.php?sheet=359&view=all

• National Center on Physical Activity and Disability – a resource center that offers information on increasing access to exercise and fitness centers: http://www.ncpad.org or 800-900-8086

• Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Recreation Technologies (RERC Rec-Tech) – focuses on fitness equipment and offers a list of accessible fitness equipment:  http://www.rectech.org/ or 1-312-413-1955 (voice and TTY)

• Removing Barriers to Health Clubs and Fitness Facilities – a guide to making fitness centers more accessible for people with disabilities, http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncodh/pdfs/rbfitness.pdf