Native Paralympian Begins Health Nonprofit for Folks with Disabilities

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Former Paralympist Alyssa Gialamas models a side plank (Courtesy Adapt, Move & Gain Fitness)

When 26-year-old Paralympic swimmer and Arlington Local Alyssa Gialamas retired after 10 years as a competitive athlete, she decided to spend her newfound time helping other people with disabilities get fit.

After competing for the US Paralympic Team in London and Rio, she found inspiration for her next venture near her home country, where she saw few accessible training opportunities.

“I started going to the gym and realized there weren’t many resources for people with disabilities,” said Gialamas, who was born with arthrogryposis, a condition that prevents some joints in her leg from moving easily.

The athlete used her expertise in adapting workouts for the non-disabled to create exercises and courses for people with different physical limitations. Last month, she started a nonprofit called Adapt, Move & Gain Fitness to make her exercise accessible to people of different abilities.

Gialamas intends to hold their first course in early November, followed by one course per month while the organization gets underway.

“There are definitely no adaptive courses here in Arlington, so I think it’s going to be really cool to start here,” she said.

Gialamas said her organization harnessed an urgent need in the local disabled community, which includes more than 8,700 people under 65, according to the 2020 census.

“People with disabilities are three times more likely to have health problems like diabetes and heart disease,” said Gialamas. “There is such a need for it. That’s why I started with it. “

She developed three types of workouts: “Adapt” workouts while sitting, “Move” workouts while sitting or standing, and “Gain” workouts while fully standing. The exercises are freely accessible.

“I don’t want people not to use these resources because of the price,” said Gialamas. “Money will come through strategic partnerships and donations. Some partners are in the works. It was really cool to have so many people looking forward to it. “

Regarding the location of the classes, Gialamas said she hoped one day to run her nonprofit from her own place. She currently plans to host events at gyms in Arlington.

People can try their roughly 30-minute workouts at home as well.

“All of the workouts are currently on my website so you can do them anywhere, which is super cool,” said Gialamas. “There’s also a community page so you can post about it when you’re doing a workout.”

Gialamas says it is important for people with disabilities to have tailored courses and places to train together.

“I think there’s a really cool aspect to seeing other people like you in any way and being able to build on them [workouts] Separating from each other is really cool, ”she said. “You don’t have to be a Paralympian to feel comfortable with your body and your disability.”