5 Ways to Make Your Health Club More Inclusive

Creating an “inclusive” gym or health club isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also good business sense. Fitness facilities that implement accessibility modifications see a 20% boost in membership from disabled clients, and diversity policies lead to 35% higher member satisfaction 

In this blog, we’ll walk you through five specific ways to create a more inclusive gym or health club experience. You’ll learn how to:

• Make your physical space more accessible for members with mobility challenges
• Train your staff to create a culture of belonging and avoid unconscious bias
• Design programming that welcomes different body types, abilities, ages, and gender identities
• Use inclusive language and imagery in your marketing and internal materials
• Leverage technology to personalize experiences and support individual needs

Let’s dive in.

Why Inclusion in Health Clubs Matters?

Today, every person who walks into your fitness facility demands and expects to feel welcome, seen, and supported. This is, regardless of their age, body type, gender identity, ability, or background. 

But what is the reality?

These numbers point to a clear gap between intention and experience. While many clubs aim to be welcoming, the absence of truly inclusive practices like thoughtful programming, handicap gym equipment, accessible facilities, and trained staff sends another message entirely.

If your club isn’t actively “including”, it may be unintentionally “excluding”.

Inclusion matters because it directly impacts whether someone feels safe enough to show up, confident enough to participate, and valued enough to return. And that feeling starts the moment they walk through your doors or decide whether to walk in at all. 

Here are five ways your health club can create a more inclusive, welcoming environment for every member, regardless of age, identity, body type, or ability.

1. Audit and Improve Physical Accessibility

Inclusion starts with access. If a member can’t physically navigate your space comfortably and independently, they can’t participate fully, no matter how welcoming your staff or programs may be. That’s one reason why nearly 60% of individuals with disabilities avoid gyms or health clubs due to inaccessible facilities, and they’re 50% less likely to engage in regular exercise. 

At the YMCA of Lethbridge, accessibility is built into the experience. Their fitness floor features wheelchair-accessible Selectorized machines, adaptive bikes, arm ergometers, and total-body cardio equipment, ensuring members of all abilities can train safely and confidently.

On the other hand, Vivo for Healthier Generations, a community health club in Calgary, introduced daily sensory hours from 1 to 3 p.m., where the environment is intentionally calmer for neurodiverse clients. Lighting around their pool shifts color to reduce harsh brightness, and noise levels are lowered throughout the facility to create a more soothing experience.

Here’s how you can improve physical accessibility across your health club:

• Entrance & traffic flow: Install ramps, automatic doors, and elevators. Provide clear, wide walkways and low-threshold entryways.
• Equipment spacing: Maintain ample space around cardio machines, weight areas, and stretching zones for wheelchair navigation or mobility aids.
• Accessible equipment: Include upper-body ergometers, adjustable benches, resistance bands with anchor points, and other adaptive tools.
• Locker rooms & restrooms: Add seating, handrails, and accessible stalls. Include signage and braille on doors and directions.
• DIY walkthroughs: Tour the space using a wheelchair, stroller, or just crouch low, spot pinch points and structural challenges.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire facility overnight. Start by conducting a walkthrough from the perspective of someone using a mobility aid. Note the pinch points, and start addressing them.

2. Create a Culture of Belonging Through Staff Training

Your staff sets the tone for your entire health club. From how they greet members to how they respond to questions or concerns, they are central to making every member feel comfortable.

According to recent data, 55% of LGBTQ+ gym-goers say they’ve felt uncomfortable in traditional gym settings, often because of how they were treated by other members or staff. That’s why ongoing staff education is so important. 

At EVERYBODY in Los Angeles, a queer- and trans-owned inclusive gym, staff are trained on pronoun usage, accessibility, and anti-discrimination practices. Members sign a community agreement rooted in respect, and the space reflects that commitment, through language, signage, and staff behavior.

Here’s how you can get started with creating a more inclusive gym staff culture:

• Ongoing DEI training: Schedule quarterly workshops covering inclusive language, pronouns, unconscious bias, and responding appropriately to discrimination.
• Role-play exercises: Simulate scenarios like misgendering and cultural missteps, for instance, so staff can practice respectful responses.
• Pronoun awareness & asking permission: Teach staff to ask “What pronouns do you use?” and respect members who share their names/pronouns.
• ZERO-tolerance policies: Model after gyms like Everybody in LA, which enforces inclusive behavior and trains staff to shut down harassment immediately.
• Accountability channels: Create safe reporting mechanisms for staff and members to flag unsafe behavior or language.

When your staff knows how to support different types of members, your entire club becomes more welcoming by default.

3. Make Programs Welcoming to All Genders, Body Types, Ages, and Abilities

The variety, tone, and structure of your programs speak volumes. If all your classes are high intensity or built around aesthetic goals, you may be unintentionally excluding many potential participants.

In Brooklyn, Form Fitness is explicitly body-positive, founded to provide an inclusive gym where plus-size, often marginalized people feel seen and supported. Their programming centers on strength and joy, not weight loss, with trainers offering modifications for every level.

Consider these strategies:

• Adaptive and gentle classes: Offer options like adaptive yoga, seated strength, and gentle movement for those with limited mobility.
• Class names with care: Swap “Beach Bootcamp” or “Shred Series” for welcoming titles like “Strength for Every Body,” “Foundational Flow,” or “Community Conditioning.”
• Beginner & family-focused schedules: Provide beginner-friendly classes and parent-friendly time slots for caregivers.
• Gender-neutral facilities: Add co-ed locker rooms and single-stall restrooms with inclusive signage.
• Affinity & community classes: Host LGBTQ+-focused boxing clubs (e.g., OutBox in Brooklyn) or body-positive yoga studios (e.g., BK Yoga Club in NYC) tailored to specific communities

The goal is to ensure that everyone, from first-time gym-goers to advanced athletes, can find something designed for them.

4. Use Inclusive Language and Imagery

What your brand says and shows matters. Your club speaks before your staff does, through your signage, your website, your class titles, your flyers, and even the people in your Instagram feed.

Language and imagery shape perception. And for many potential members, those cues signal whether they’ll feel safe and seen in your space.

Take Blink Fitness’s “Every Body Happy” inclusive gym campaign as an example. Instead of focusing on sculpted abs or intense transformations, the campaign celebrated real people of all body types, races, and ages enjoying movement. Their messaging intentionally shifted away from aesthetic outcomes and toward emotional well-being, emphasizing how fitness can help people feel good, not just look good.

It made thousands of people who had never felt “fit enough” to belong in a gym suddenly see themselves on the wall, on the screen, and in the story.

And that’s what inclusive branding does: it opens the door.

Make these updates to your language and visuals:

• Choose diverse visuals: Use stock or custom photos featuring people with different body types, cultural backgrounds, and abilities.
• Revise your copy: Replace exclusive or appearance-focused language with empowering, neutral alternatives. Swap phrases like “get beach-ready” for “move with strength,” “feel energized,” or “discover what movement can do for you.”
• Reflect diversity in digital content: Show diverse members and staff in videos and on social media. Highlight voices from LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and disability communities sharing what movement means to them.
• Be explicit about inclusion: State in your mission or about page that you value pronouns, body autonomy, and accessibility.
• Ask members to share their preferred pronouns and names in registration forms and onboarding.

The more people can see themselves in your space, the more likely they are to join and stay.

5. Use Technology to Personalize the Member Experience

73% of fitness members expect personalized experiences, and 59% say personalization drives loyalty. The right tools allow you to personalize how you communicate with and serve each member.

Here’s how to use technology for inclusion:

• Capture personal preferences: At signup or onboarding, ask for trainer/gender preference, music volume, language, and pronouns. Fitness software like SHC makes it easy to collect and store these preferences, so they’re accessible to staff when it matters most.
• Deliver smart, automated communication: Use apps or member portals to send tailored reminders, class suggestions, and motivational nudges. Implement AI-driven nudging: studies show ~7% increase in physical activity when personalized messaging is used. SHC’s Marketing Hub, for example, allows clubs to automate this process, helping members feel supported without being overwhelmed.
• Support hybrid and virtual experiences: Offer on-demand or live-stream classes for members who prefer remote or private workouts. Integrate tools like Future, which pairs you with a personal trainer and wearable data for a completely customized experience. SHC supports integrated digital experiences, making it seamless to extend your programming beyond the walls of your club.
• Enable data-informed customization for trainers: Provide coaches with access to member preferences, workout history, and availability to tailor sessions. 
• Track progress and update recommendations: Members with app-driven tracking demonstrate up to 30% better retention. Offer dashboards that show progress in strength, endurance, or consistency.

Fitness software that supports personalization at scale helps you create thoughtful, member-centered, inclusive gym/health club experiences, without placing the burden on your team.

Conclusion: Inclusion is an Ongoing Opportunity

Every change you make, no matter how small, can help someone feel seen, safe, and supported in your health club. And when your space reflects the diversity of your community, you don’t just build a more inclusive gym, you build a stronger one. Building an inclusive health club evolves over time, and it’s worth the effort.

Here’s what inclusion looks like in practice:

• A club entrance that everyone can navigate.
• Photos showing real bodies across your digital and physical space.
• Instructors who know someone’s pronouns, needs, and goals.
• Personalized messages that encourage someone to show up—just as they are.

The payoff?

• Inclusive clubs report 35% higher member satisfaction and 20–30% better retention among minority and disabled groups.
• They attract broader demographics, inspire staff, and stand out from the crowd.

Your next steps:

1. Audit your space, materials, and technology through an inclusivity lens.
2. Prioritize high-impact changes (like signage, imagery, or staff training).
3. Use software that supports personalization at scale.
4. Track progress by surveying your members, especially underrepresented groups.

Keep listening. Keep evolving. Keep asking, “Who else can we make space for?”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)