Sol Fitness is modern and inclusive gym located in Lexington, KY. It is owned by wives Stephanie Melvin and Sunny Bayne. Stephanie is in charge of the gyms marketing and business operations. She is also a wellness coach who directs Sol Fitness’ trainer program, Sol Academy. While Sunny is Sol’s head fitness trainer and yoga instructor.
Bev speaking to the trainers at Sol Fitness about autism
They invited Innovative Supports for Autistic Workers (ISAW) to give a presentation on autism, exercise, and employment on Friday September 19th. Sol’s staff was so much fun and despite some technical difficulties, we all had some good conversation.
Afterward, we sent a few questions to Stephanie and Sunny. Sol Fitness trainers, Kris and Casey, also chimed in.
What is a typical day like as a gym owner/director?
Depends on who you ask! 🙂
For Sunny, a typical day is spent at Sol focused on leading classes and private sessions, designing programming and education, and client care.
For Steph, a typical day is spent in her home office focused on marketing, community engagement, and business development.
Sol Fitness Co-owners Stephanie (left) and Sunny (right)
How did you learn about Innovative Supports for Autistic Works (ISAW) and Autism Informed Employers (AIE)?
Google – found the information and reached out directly to Bev
Why were you interested in AIE training?
Creating a truly inclusive space is important to us at Sol. We know our clients and are always seeking out new and better ways to serve them.
Team Sol received an autism-friendly business certification through FEAT in Louisville, but we did not feel that the education we received was worthy of a ‘certification’. By adding that to our website or telling people we were “certified” felt inauthentic and contrary to our education-centric mission.
We began seeking out new certifications and after reviewing several paid education options, we found your training. The hands-on and customized approach, commitment to helping local businesses to in turn help our local autistic community, and Bev’s personal response to my inquiry made it easy to choose your training, and we are so glad we did.
How often does your team work with autistic clients?
We have many autistic clients within our Sol community, so we work with them daily.
Do you have personal experience with autistic people?
Yes. We have autistic team members, have trained autistic students in our Sol Academy programs, and have loved ones in our personal lives with diagnosed autism.
Sol Fitness trainers Kris (Left) and Casey (right)
Did you find anything surprising about the training?
- KRIS wonderful to hear from the perspective of someone with autism
- how people with autism experience situations versus others and ways in which to better understand how to assist
- CASEY Yes! It really resonated with me how Bev said the gym felt when she first came in. I realized in that moment that it would be ideal to consider how people might feel coming in during busy vs. slow times. I want to integrate more questions to help us understand each person’s preferences better in the consultation process.
- SUNNY Yes! I learned so much. I specifically loved the part about the brain of an autistic person. Would love to learn even more.
What accommodations have autistic clients or employees requested (if any)? Did you find any of them difficult to implement?
- KRIS Lighting changes during the session (dimming). Lower the sound level of music. Offering varieties of material / equipment options for touch sensitivities. This was not a problem at all.
- CASEY Not difficult but new- I have been considering sensory overwhelm more and trying to make changes in that area.
- SUNNY Not difficult, just need to think more openly about solutions – If they want to train in a quiet time, we schedule appropriately. If they want to wear headphones we do more visual cuing, etc.
How do you feel that exercise can benefit autistic people?
- KRIS Exercise can benefit autistic people just the same as it does for all people. Becoming more aware and connected to your body is beneficial in a number of ways: better stability, balance, posture, proprioceptive awareness and helps build a stronger and positive relationship with yourself.
- CASEY Low muscle tone is connected to less longevity. So exercise is important for every single body. Autistic people might not feel perfectly comfortable in a gym setting, but they have human bodies and so overcoming obstacles so they can participate in an active lifestyle is extremely important to a long, vibrant life.
- It can help build confidence, self efficacy, self esteem, and overall trust in their body. Trust that they are capable of so much more than they could’ve ever imagined, physically speaking.
- SUNNY Learning safe and proper movement patterns frees the body in so many ways. Meaning, if someone has the courage to say yes to learning how to connect with their body then they will become more confident that they won’t injure themselves and that directly correlates to becoming a more confident person physically and mentally. Becoming more confident opens so many doors for the person. Challenging the body physically reduces anxiety. There are many reasons for this, but one is building capacity through putting the body through stress (in a safe environment). When we do resistance training, we are stressing the muscles. When we do cardiovascular training, we are stressing the circulatory system, which is super important for people with ASD since some have circulatory issues. Overtime, the person will become more resilient in every day life because they have built capacity in the gym which builds capacity for dealing with stress outside of the gym.
- Example: When I started training my ASD client in 2019 he could barely do a lunge or walk into a gym without severe anxiety and always feeling out of place. Now he deadlifts 205 lbs, squats 155, and benches 125 lbs and goes to the gym on his own (this was a big goal for him). He’s more confident in every day life and generally more happy and finds it easier to engage in communication with strangers due to the Sol Community. He didn’t trust his body before and now he goes for daily run/walks as a celebration of having the ability to move without getting injured.
What kind of exercises would you recommend to an autistic person who isn’t used to much physical activity?
- KRIS Marches, arm circles, toe taps, dead bugs*, body-weight squats, burpees are some great and safe ways to move the body.
- CASEY Deep intrinsic core exercises- Pallof** pressing or Dead bugs (I’d recommend professional cueing to ensure correct activation on these).
- Quad exercises- wall sits (with a fidget of course
)
- Glute exercises- floor bridges!!!
- Quad exercises- wall sits (with a fidget of course
- SUNNY I’d recommend starting with foundational training. Balance, stability and muscle endurance training to start. It’s not a specific “exercise” but an overall well designed and customized training plan that builds on their current body’s foundation and movement history. The exercises would depend on the results of the movement screening, their anxiety levels (if any), and their personal goals. Nevertheless, a deadbug is good for everyone 😉
Notes:
*Dead bug is an exercise that targets the core muscles, where a person lays on their back and alternates lifting and lowering their arms and legs.
**Pallof press is a functional exercise that targets the deep abdominal muscles. A person holds a secured resistance band and uses their core to pull the band away from the center.
Some couples have a hard time working together. How is it running Sol Fitness with your wife? (if this is too personal you can skip it)
Not too personal at all! Sunny and I love working together. We have deep respect for one another, and keep love at the center of all things – life and business. Nothing is more important than keeping that commitment.
On top of that, Sunny and I operate in very separate lanes.
Sunny is a master-level certified personal trainer, yoga instructor, corrective exercise specialist, youth exercise specialist and reiki healer. As our head trainer, Sunny is onsite at Sol every day working alongside the team.
After spending 20 years in business, marketing, and education leadership, I left my corporate career and now use my skill-set to manage marketing and operations for Sol Fitness and Sol Academy.
We make a great team, and share common goals and values – including creating a safe and inclusive, education-centric, wellness environment for people to grow stronger in body, mind and spirit.
Special Messages from Team Sol to Bev + Brittany:
- Thank you for spending your time training the Sol staff. We are dedicated to moving forward with your work and positively impacting our community for years to come. We are so grateful for you spending your valuable time training us. Please know you are always welcome at Sol and we would be honored to have you.