About Us

welcome to spirit club!

At SPIRIT Club, we believe exercise is not only essential to living a happy and healthy life, it is also a human right. Therefore, fitness should be made accessible to you, regardless of your circumstance. Whether you’re experienced with exercise or a total beginner; comfortable in gyms or don’t feel like they are the right fit for you; able to participate in typical fitness programs or face limited opportunities due to a disability, SPIRIT Club is the place where you can successfully work toward your fitness goals.

SPIRIT Club strives to foster a culture of support and encouragement for ALL of our members. We create this environment by hiring dual-certified trainers who are experts in fitness and have completed certifications to provide support for people of all abilities. We offer individualized services in the form of both private training and group classes aimed at giving each member a meaningful fitness experience.

Through welcoming community members with and without disabilities, we have created a culture that welcomes EVERYONE and celebrates diversity.

SPIRIT CLUB’S MISSION

To offer a universal design for fitness that empowers people of all abilities to exercise successfully in a socially integrated setting.

To offer a universal design for fitness

Ensuring all SPIRIT Club fitness programs include scalable exercises that can be modified to accommodate limitations or progressions to increase the challenge.

That empowers people of all abilities

By making universally designed fitness available, SPIRIT Club is giving all people the opportunity to participate in exercise programs, and providing each person with the right to choose how to exercise, rather than being forced to fit into the one-size-fits-all mentality that many traditional fitness providers promote.

To exercise successfully

SPIRIT Club members set goals and participate in classes and training sessions specifically designed to meet those goals. Before finding SPIRIT Club, many of our members did not know or believe that they could be successful in an exercise program. We take responsibility to support our members and ensure their success in their fitness journey.

In a socially integrated setting

SPIRIT Club does not believe in segregating classes based on ability. SPIRIT Club members with different needs and abilities exercise side by side with one another, with modifiable exercises and personalized programs, so that each member is able to achieve a fulfilling workout experience.

S OCIAL
P HYSICAL
I NTERACTIVE
R ESPECTFUL
I NTEGRATED
T EAMWORK

SPIRIT CLUB’S PHILOSOPHY

At SPIRIT Club we meet you where you are. We do not have preconceptions of what you should be able to do prior to walking through our doors. On day 1, we get to know who you are, what you can do, and where you want to be. By honing in on your strengths and interests, we aim to develop a strong connection with you as an individual, and effectively target your goals through positive encouragement and support.

Philosophically, we take a fully functional approach into all the sessions we offer. This means we are not interested in teaching generic or inauthentic exercises. Instead we want to lead exercises that will directly improve your natural movements and daily activities outside the gym, to increase your balance, flexibility, strength, coordination, endurance, agility, and ability to prevent injuries. Your exercise routine will be developed to specifically match your lifestyle and goals.

SPIRIT CLUB’S HISTORY

SPIRIT Club was founded in 2013 by Jared Ciner in the Washington, DC suburb of Montgomery County, MD. At that point, Jared was working as a support counselor for individuals with disabilities during the day and as a fitness Trainer at night. He realized that many of the individuals with disabilities to whom he provided support had fitness goals (such as losing weight, becoming more mobile, etc.) with minimal services available to help them achieve their goals. Jared started teaching exercise classes to the individuals he worked with and soon expanded the services externally.

Today SPIRIT Club is proud to train people with and without disabilities, including those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injuries, mental health and substance abuse disorders, age related disease, Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), visual impairments, those who are deaf and hard of hearing, stroke survivors, and many more.