Aubry Allbridge, a fitness instructor with Down Syndrome, led her debut class of 60 people at a Utah gym after becoming certified in the UpBeat Barre programme, a milestone her mentor says she has been working towards for years.
Allbridge, 22, had been attending multiple classes at the gym, including UpBeat Pilates, Zumba, SilverSneakers, and HIGH Fitness. UpBeat Barre, which describes itself on its website as combining ‘strength training, Pilates, cardio, and yoga into a high-energy fusion of fun,’ became her favourite. That preference, combined with an exceptional ability to memorise choreography and retain song lyrics, caught the attention of Jane Johnson, UpBeat Barre instructor and co-owner of VASA Fitness in Kaysville.
‘She has an incredible brain,’ Johnson told KSL. ‘Aubry can learn choreography so fast, and she retains it. She also knows all the lyrics to the songs, so she can sing along with the best of them.’
From the back of the room to the front of the class
After earning her certification, Allbridge stepped into the instructor role she had been building towards as a student. The debut class of 60 participants was, by her own account, exactly what she had hoped for. ‘I had such a fun time,’ she said afterwards. ‘I love to be on stage. I love exercise. I loved to wear my mic and say every cue, and I love to meet with people and collecting friends. I want to help everyone feel included.’
On Instagram, announcing her certification, Allbridge said her favourite part of the course was motivational cuing and giving options, two tools she described as central to making every participant feel welcome. The emphasis on inclusion is not incidental. It runs through everything she has said publicly about why she wanted to teach.
Johnson is now working with Allbridge to convert that certification into full-time employment at the gym. That process is ongoing, and the outcome is not guaranteed, turning a certification into a sustainable paid role takes time and institutional support. But Johnson has said plainly that is the direction they are headed.
Aubry Allbridge fitness instructor and the wider case for inclusion in sport
Allbridge’s certification arrives in a broader context in which people with Down Syndrome are increasingly visible in competitive and recreational fitness, even as structural barriers to employment remain real.
One figure the report points to is Dan MacGauley, 36, who has Down Syndrome, autism, and is deaf in his left ear. He underwent two rounds of open-heart surgery as a toddler and was wheelchair-bound as a teenager when he began lifting weights out of a medical need to lose weight. In 2023, MacGauley took first place in the European Bench Press Championship, posting 154 lbs (70 kg) in the classic category and 198 lbs (90 kg) in the equipped category, wearing a weight belt and gloves, a new personal best.
‘Loads of people have said to us that they go to work and come home after a long day and it’s an effort to go to the gym,’ said his mother Judith, who is also a powerlifter. ‘But that they see Dan there, smiling and laughing despite all his problems, and it gives them the motivation they need.’
MacGauley’s trajectory (from wheelchair to European champion) and Allbridge’s shift from regular class attendee to certified instructor carrying a microphone in front of 60 people share a structural similarity: both required someone in a position of institutional authority to see potential where others might have seen limitation, and then to act on it.
Johnson has indicated she intends to keep acting on it. The next step is making Allbridge’s role at VASA Fitness permanent.
