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OGDEN — Finding the time, location and energy to exercise isn't always easy, especially for special needs children and adults.
A program in northern Utah is breaking down the gym stigma and keeping everyone moving.
Gold's Gym general manager for Kaysville and Ogden, Kyle Scoville shouts out, "You're not only crawling like a bear, you sound like a bear. Beast Mode."
Those bear crawls, push ups and jumping jacks are just some of the exercises Scoville uses to keep these kids and adults with special needs moving.
"This is probably one of my favorite hours of the week is coming here and working out with these kids," Scoville said.
The Friends, Fun, and Fitness class is held every Saturday, rotating between the Kaysville and Ogden Gold's Gym locations, as well as GiGi's Playhouse, a Down syndrome achievement center in Layton
The class is a safe place where the coach treats everyone the same.
"They can do the same things, we can turn their strengths, even into better strengths and we can turn around their weaknesses and help them improve in that area," Scoville said.
It's that team and friend mentality that gets these participants, most who have Down syndrome, coming back every week.
"It's really hard to get these kids to stay active because they want to sit all the time, so anything I can get her to do, she does and when she does it with a bunch of friends it's a lot easier," said Kaye Wilson, who brings her daughter, Lisa.
Lisa recently lost 21 pounds by exercising and watching her diet. "We eat good food," she said.
Studies show children with Down syndrome have lower muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness and motor skills. According to National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability, 58 percent of children with Down syndrome do not meet the recommended guideline of 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
Participant Nate Parkinson said he likes to do push ups, sit ups, stretching and lifting weights.
Nate's Dad said, "When you have Down syndrome.... He doesn't have anything that tells him he's full, so you have to kind of gauge what he eats."
But these participants are also gaining muscles and skills, so much so they're now competing in the Special Olympics.
"Their confidence has grown tremendously," Scoville said. "In fact, most of them now have jobs and they're participating in things like Scout groups, church activities ... It's just amazing the joy and just the confidence builder it's given everybody."
For more information on the program, as well as a look at the calendar of events to get times and locations, log in to Gigi's Playhouse website.
