Smart gym takes learning disability lady progress to another level

The revamped centre on Newbury Lane, which is one of eight leading facilities run and maintained by Sandwell Leisure Trust (SLT) for Sandwell Council, recently benefitted from an extensive redevelopment of its gym offering – with EGYM now providing the ultimate in tech-enabled, flexible and personalised workout experiences.

EGYM is the largest open fitness platform in the world, integrating 200+ leading fitness brands into a single training experience, with data-driven technology that drives results and ensures users of all abilities/fitness levels can achieve their goals efficiently and effectively.

This latest improvement (part of an overall £500,000 gym facility investment) underscores SLT’s commitment to the best in fitness innovation, enhanced user experience, active community engagement, plus health and wellbeing development - with Portway already established as a centre of excellence for people with disabilities.

As a fully inclusive centre, Portway works closely with Sandwell Council’s Adult Services team, who are based on site, to encourage historically excluded groups to take part in more activities and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. And one such individual is Hayley Beste, age 42 from Rowley Regis, who is certainly reaping the combined rewards of the Adult Services’ user programme, Portway’s expertise and the new EGYM.

Hayley has a mild learning disability and also a complex hole in the heart condition with a narrowing aorta, but she faces these health adversities with great resolve and has tangibly improved her fitness, wellbeing and confidence at Portway for a few years now, via targeted walking, aerobics, hydro pool and bike work.

What’s more, Hayley has especially embraced the new EGYM equipment because of the freedom it gives her and the real time visual representation of her progress. She says: “I’ve got the app on my phone and it always shows me how well I’m doing. I’ve only been doing it for a few months but have already moved up to level 4 and earned a gold medal.”

Her mum, Christine has also noticed the difference and adds: “Portway have already done a marvellous job with Hayley, but the EGYM has inspired her to be even more health and fitness conscious. She’s started choosing the gym over our regular shopping and coffee day, plus she and her social group are all talking about the app and the progress medals they can earn. They really are encouraging each other and getting more active because of it.”

Hayley works closely with Adult Services support worker Carol Steele, age 62 from Netherton, and the two have struck up quite a partnership on EGYM, with Carol also using it to quickly go down a dress size and realign and strengthen a problem shoulder.

Carol explains: “EGYM has given Hayley extra purpose and the moving visual aspect of the machine dashboards especially works and gets her excited about her progress. It’s also given her more focus and drive in her cardio and strength sessions with me. Hayley has even started new dance classes due to her new-found confidence and enthusiasm and she loves sharing her constantly updating app results and achievements with family and friends.

“EGYM is very motivational, like an electronic coach, but it also interactively displays your body fat, muscle mass, sugar levels and calories burnt, for a more detailed health overview. Users become a lot more aware of what they’re achieving and capable of, because it adapts to each individual’s needs and readjusts to their target settings at the touch of a button.

“I’m losing weight but also developing muscle tone and EGYM immediately picked up the weakness in my left shoulder and realigned accordingly, so I could strengthen there without overdoing it. It automatically pinpoints and rights the wrongs with your body.

“A member working on her waistline just recently told me that because she is weaker on one side and off balance, the EGYM prescribed the correct calibrations to literally straighten her out. Her daughter who is overweight and recovering from a hip operation is also thriving just weeks after, because EGYM brings you on much quicker.”