{"id":7805,"date":"2020-09-01T17:11:01","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T17:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/?p=7805"},"modified":"2023-11-21T18:24:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:24:11","slug":"power-uplifter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"lazyload\" title=\"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism\" data-src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/508995698?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><em>Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming turned into a trailblazing entrepreneur when he opened Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.<\/em><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">.<\/span><br>It takes strength and determination to break down barriers\u2014sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Mark Fleming\u2019s case, it was both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark, a personal trainer with autism, discovered his calling in undergrad at the University of Alabama. He earned a bachelor\u2019s in exercise science, then achieved his master\u2019s degree in human performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Power (Up)Lifter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial goal was to train professional athletes, but Mark\u2019s purpose shifted while he was volunteering for the Special Olympics. He saw firsthand that athletes with autism had&nbsp;little to&nbsp;no viable support to continue their fitness and training after the event. He also noted there were&nbsp;few&nbsp;gyms or trainers who specifically knew what people on the spectrum needed in terms of environment and motivation. The gap was obvious, so Mark decided to fix it.&nbsp; He turned his focus to fitness for people&nbsp;with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When he was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s syndrome at 11 years old, Mark found himself suddenly thrown into the world of being labeled as different. As often happens with people with disabilities, the world at large decides what she or he can and can\u2019t do. Mark wasn\u2019t having it.<br><span class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;I think it is important to help others on the spectrum to achieve the life that they desire, and exercise is a great way to do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><br>\u201cPeople try to push people with disabilities into certain careers and certain jobs,\u201d he says.&nbsp;\u201cI think it is important to help others on the spectrum to achieve the life that they desire, and exercise is a great way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After years of a successful private client personal training business, Mark opened Puzzle Piece Fitness in Tampa, Fla., the first gym in&nbsp;the country&nbsp;owned and operated&nbsp;by a trainer with autism that catered to people with special needs. In time, Mark realized that people with other types of disabilities were also being left out of traditional gym and fitness centers. He rebranded to Equally Fit, launching virtual classes in addition to providing onsite workouts. Equally Fit remains one of the only gyms in the country created by and for people with special needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt makes me proud because I get to see the individuals accomplish things they and their parents never thought they could,\u201d Mark says. \u201cIt\u2019s really heartwarming.&nbsp;Seeing people get healthy, it\u2019s awesome \u2013 the healthier these individuals are, the more likely they are to live their best lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We applaud Mark Fleming so enthusiastically for including people with special needs that it should count as cardio. Awesome job, Mark for building a world where we can be <a href=\"http:\/\/equallyfit.com\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"equallyfit.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Equally Fit<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming turned into a trailblazing entrepreneur when he opened Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneur","8":"category-influencer","9":"post_format-post-format-video"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Personal trainer with autism, Mark Fleming, is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"We Include\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"We Include\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"We Include\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"We Include\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8\"},\"headline\":\"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\\\/Operator with Autism\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":484,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entrepreneur\",\"Influencer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\\\/Operator with Autism - We Include\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8\"},\"description\":\"Personal trainer with autism, Mark Fleming, is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/power-uplifter\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png\",\"width\":2040,\"height\":1360},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"We Include\",\"description\":\"Creating a More Inclusive World\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8\",\"name\":\"We Include\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"We Include\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/weinclude.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.weinclude.org\\\/author\\\/we-include\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include","description":"Personal trainer with autism, Mark Fleming, is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include","og_description":"Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/","og_site_name":"We Include","article_published_time":"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2040,"height":1360,"url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"We Include","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include","twitter_description":"Personal trainer with autism Mark Fleming is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"We Include","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/"},"author":{"name":"We Include","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8"},"headline":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism","datePublished":"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/"},"wordCount":484,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","articleSection":["Entrepreneur","Influencer"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/","url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/","name":"Mark Fleming: First Fitness Studio Owner\/Operator with Autism - We Include","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","datePublished":"2020-09-01T17:11:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-21T18:24:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8"},"description":"Personal trainer with autism, Mark Fleming, is the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Equally Fit, a fitness studio for people of all abilities.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/power-uplifter\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mark-Fleming_formatted.png","width":2040,"height":1360},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/","name":"We Include","description":"Creating a More Inclusive World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e316eedfaa2148e9df9b7711d85160e8","name":"We Include","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56cb8f3402d68f7cd6a18d619f5b807e6c88ccf92d8af035ceb08cc811146977?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"We Include"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/weinclude.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/author\/we-include\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weinclude.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}