Fitness professionals exercising their career options

In Melbourne, owner of Vibes Fitness, Margie Cerato, has been working in fitness since she was a teenager. A decade ago, she founded a non-profit called Celebrating Abilities, which offers programs for clients who are often told their needs are “too complicated”.

“I had many people visit me through Vibes Fitness who no-one would work with. They were placed in the too hard basket,” Cerato says.

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Cerato has created an inclusive space for all abilities to learn everything from basic fitness to aerial yoga, and tailors programs to suit. Her clients range from the hearing impaired, who attend training with an Auslan interpreter, to clients with Down Syndrome, ADHD or in stroke recovery.

“This is not work for me. This is my passion,” Cerato says, noting that in her opinion, the best fitness instructors have good technical knowledge, upskill regularly and have strong emotional intelligence.

As part of her work, Cerato aims to shift societal perspectives from a focus on disability to a celebration of ability.

“My plan is to move the studio in 2023 and set up an ability studio that includes a playground [in a] wheelchair-accessible building and a sensory room for kids,” she says.

As well as producing manuals for fitness instructors (the next will focus on instructing clients with disabilities), Cerato is constantly upgrading her own skills.

“The best part about working in the industry is making people’s dreams come true,” she says.

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