HCM PEOPLE
See our feature on disability access on p46
I really hope Accessercise changes the lives of millions
Ali Jawad Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise What is Accessercise? Accessercise is one of the first fitness apps specifically designed for the disabled community. It has a unique exercise library that can be tailored to a person’s specific needs. Users can build workouts, schedule to their calendar and filter, based on a range of options including difficulty, location and equipment. There’s a social hub where we interact with our community, both individually and within groups, as well as an ‘explore’ section that has the UK’s fitness facilities mapped out. Those that are rated high enough by our users through our rating system are marked as verified gyms, allowing users to easily identify which facilities are accessible to the disabled community. We’ll soon be adding nutrition information, blogs, podcasts and much more. 22
Issue 2112022 2021 ©Cybertrek ©Cybertrek2022 2021
How did you come up with the idea? My co-founder, former international sailor Sam Brearey, and I were discussing the pandemic and the impact on the disabled community, as well as the athletes heading off to Japan for the Olympic Games. Within those discussions we identified there was nothing even close to Accessercise in the market, and it was something that could benefit so many people across the world. As with my sporting career, I don’t do things by halves, so we decided to go all in. How did you take it from idea to reality? Sam and I have been good friends for years, and both dive in head first, so that’s what we did with Accessercise. We started with the firm foundation that everything was to be specifically for people with impairments, so everything we did we came back to that and asked ‘could this be more accessible?’.
