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 their 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 their 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, called 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 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

The layout of equipment impacts accessibility

Fitness Center Accessibility Resources

• Access Equals Opportunity: Recreation Facilities & Fitness Centers
• National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability - a resource center that offers information on increasing access to exercise and fitness centers: http://www.ncpad.org or 800-900-80861
• AIMFREE - Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments use checklists to help identify barriers in fitness centers. http://www.ncpad.org/426/2254/AIMFREE~Manualsor (800) 900-8086
• Exercise/Fitness: Choosing a Fitness Center, 2006. http://www.ncpad.org/308/1909/Choosing~a~Fitness~Center
• Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Recreation Technologies (RERC Rec-Tech) - dedicated to using technology to promote more healthy, active lifestyles for people with disabilities and offers a list of accessible fitness equipment: http://www.rectech.org/ or (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