Bloom Fitness is a health & wellness elective class for the intellectual and developmental disability community in the A-B Tech Transitional Studies SOAR program.
Classes include in-person, Bloom Live!, and app-based on-demand cycling, yoga, Pilates, dance, chair fitness, and strength, which serve to enhance the overall wellness of each athlete through education and encouragement.
The Bloom Fitness motto, “Lead with the heart. Fitness follows.” aligns with A-B Tech’s RISE (Respect, Integrity, Support for Everyone) cultural community. Bloom Fitness is a community around fitness and wellness that provides athletes with a feeling of belonging, a safe environment, healthful living, and social interactions.
Transitional Studies and Bloom Partnership Goals
- To serve adults with low literacy and intellectual and developmental disabilities
- To offer safe in-person fitness programming for the workforce and personal development
- To improve health and wellness, as well as social, safety, and behavioral skills
Bloom is more than a fitness program. While Bloom athletes work out physically, they are simultaneously learning and working on other practices (personally, emotionally, mentally, and socially) that translate directly to helping them to function better in the real world.
The Four Key Real-World Areas are Social Skills, Financial Literacy, Professionalism, and Physical Stamina. Social Skills focuses on respect, patience, communication, emotional regulation, determination, confidence, positivity, cooperation, and taking risks.
Financial Literacy includes subscription and counting, and professionalism centers on the importance of attendance, following direction, goals, responsibility, workplace respect, and focused work time.
Physical Stamina demonstrates how to increase endurance, energy, strength, flexibility, and functional movement. Plus, athletes learn how to decrease injuries.
Transitional Studies learners with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are interested in Bloom may contact Dr. Barbara Fedock
- Phone: (828) 398-7131
- Email: barbarafedock@abtech.edu
