Free Weekly BSL Fitness Classes
Inspiring Fitness have been delivering free exercise classes in British Sign Language to our deaf community in Birmingham since January 2025.
Every week, Valentina has been visiting our Deaf Cultural Centre, encouraging deaf and hard of hearing people, and those with limited mobility, to be active in a fun and inclusive way.
They’re enjoyed by all attendees and have even been featured on BBC and ITV News! Click the link below to watch the video. We apologise for the video not having subtitles but we have included the full transcript below the link.
Squats, lunges and some healthy competition. It’s what you’d expect to see at your local gym. But here, everything’s taught in sign language. Lights stimulate visual senses for those who live in a world without sound, with other aids like countdown clocks guiding the workout. These sessions in Birmingham are free and are designed for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. They’re led by Valentina, who herself is hearing impaired. What sort of response have you had from these classes so far?
“Oh, they’re supposed to be great. So we’ve got people who’ve come in and gone, you know, they like the idea of exercise, or their doctors told them they should exercise. But up to now, there hasn’t been any opportunity for them to be able to do it. It’s also an opportunity for them to come together as a community, and they have that time where they can talk to each other, they can exchange ideas, build new friendships, and it is much less of a case where they’re isolated.”
Valentina started losing her hearing in her 20s, and shares from experience of the communication barriers to fitness,
“Unfortunately, with people who have hearing loss or who are deaf, it’s very difficult for them to access fitness services. It can be as simple as trying to get into a gym and having your introduction to the equipment or going through health and safety. If it’s not interpreted into sign language, it creates a little bit of a barrier.
The weekly sessions have only been running since January, but they’re already bringing so much joy.
“The exercise has really improved my life. It’s been great. The communication with BSL has been great. Emotionally, I feel a lot happier, a lot healthier, a lot better, a lot more positive. Before exercise was really difficult because of communication, I tried to lip read or that there’s spoken communication going on, or I’d have to arrive late and not know what’s going on. I’d not been able to hear, so lots of barriers.
“So this is my first time – I’ve never had a session like this before – it’s really exciting. So I’m a lot happier. Have lots of fun. Have lots of friends. And we all get to know each other.”
“I enjoy exercise at the BID center, I like coming here, I enjoy it.”
In the UK, 42% of disabled adults are classed as inactive. That’s compared to 22% of non disabled adults. These classes aim to change those figures. They’ve been launched by fitness instructor Marcus McDonald, who hopes they can inspire change in the industry.
“So I think one of the barriers to overcome is to actually ensure that people coming into the industry as exercise professionals and coaches are better educated on how to work with those with disability. And one of the biggest things that we have with Val, for instance, is straight away that breaks that barrier, but in seeing Val in action, we’re hoping to inspire other hearing exercise & wellbeing professionals to kind of take that on board and see how they can become more accessible and more inclusive in their own approach.”
Funding runs out in May, but it’s hoped more can be secured to not only keep these sessions running, but inspire similar classes to give anyone the freedom to lace up and keep fit. Lois Swinton ITV News in Birmingham.
End of transcript.
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