ZACHARY LINHARES
visual journalist

Daniel Bufford walks along a turf field during his work out on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. Bufford is learning to walk again after losing his left leg in a motorcycle accident in September 2023. “I want people to understand that if they’re willing to stick with it, it will improve your life,” Bufford said. “I see the improvements and its life altering.”

Lainie Rodgers pulls on elastic bands during a work out on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. In 1994, Rodgers suffered a near fatal car accident that left her paralyzed below the wast. She was one of the first athletes to join the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program after meeting founder and head coach Josh Snyder five years ago. “It teaches you to adapt to your circumstances whether you’re shopping or you’re driving or just even laying around, Rodgers said. “I always say create the strength which creates power, it gives you the self confidence which you are lacking in a wheelchair.”

Founder and head coach of Adaptive Athletes in Motion Josh Snyder speaks to a group of people during a fundraising event for the program on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. Snyder founded the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program because he wanted to train all athletes, no just able bodied athletes, he said. “We live each day for the person that we want to be remembered as and all of us like a work of art, are clay that we're trying to mold on a regular basis,” Snyder said. “I want my athletes, my adaptive athletes to choose the life that they're molding, not to fit into the mold of what somebody else believes they're capable of.”

Lainie Rodgers lifts a medicine ball over a pull up bar on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. The Adaptive Athletes in Motion program has transformed her mobility in life and her confidence, Rodgers said. “I just want people to get out there because I know what it felt like when I was going through the depression and not knowing anybody and being scared to go out on my own and get to a facility like Josh has created. Rodgers said. “And once you get there, you don't want to not stop, you want to stay.”

Lainie Rodgers grips her wheelchair while she stretches her back on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. Before her car accident in 1994, Rodgers played volleyball, soccer, aerobatics and tennis. Through the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program, Rodgers is able to exercise in a fitness community of other athletes with disabilities. “This is kind of encompassed her life and it's a lot of fun to see somebody get excited about challenging their bodies again, where they come from a place where they were told maybe challenging isn't appropriate anymore, Snyder said. “One of the best things with Lainie is you get to have fun. Like when Lainie gets around me, Lainie gets around our volunteers, they’re more smiles and laughter than there probably is follow the class regimen for the day.”

Lainie Rodgers transitions to her next exercise during an Adaptive Athletes in Motion training session on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. “When they deliver my protein box outside my door, how the hell am I going to get that big ol box into my apartment?” Rodgers said. “What do you do? Are you strong enough to pick up the package? Yeah because I lift weights, I’ve done every exercise for my body, every muscle in my arm to create that strength. You’ve picked these weights from the floor, now you can pick up that package off the floor.”

Attendees of an Adaptive Athletes in Motion fundraising event listen to founder Josh Snyder, right, speak on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. The event was hosted so able bodied athletes could experience the training regime for the athletes with disabilities. Funding for the Adaptive Athletes in Motion classes and equipment comes entirely through donations. “You're a human being to us who has unique desires and unique needs that we are here to serve today and the coolest thing about community based fitness is when you have a group of individuals who share a space, they share that characteristic traits of each other,” Snyder said “If you show up and you're somebody who likes to work hard and you surround yourself with people who work hard, well horses that run together, run faster, right? rather than the horse who runs by themselves.”

Adaptive Athletes in Motion coach Samantha Walker, left, and her family listen to Daniel Bufford speak on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. Walker joined as a coach with the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program after her sister had a random and violent angioedema episode that left her blind. Walker quit her job and followed her passion to help people who have disabilities like her sister, Walker said. “Adaptive Athletes in motion was inclusive, it was exceptional, and it was coordinated,” Walker said. “People with disabilities could feel that sense of normalcy rather than special treatment or hand holding, rather it was a hard work out that these people were working their asses off for.”

Daniel Bufford learns to walk with his prosthetic on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. Bufford's work out routine consists of making laps around the Brave Enough Cross Fit Gym and participating in other strength training exercises. “Im feeling less fatigued when I try. So when I started I only did 500 meters. The next Monday I did a mile and I only got 1000 meters before then,” Bufford said. “Samantha said for me to work out twice a day I had to do a mile so I did 1600 meters the next Monday.”

Daniel Bufford sits for a portrait after finishing his exercise routine on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. “It took a solid two months before I could say, ‘I can do things I couldn't do before,’” Bufford said. “I mean I did suitcase pulls today and that’s 62 pounds. Everybody else was doing two, four, and eight pounds. Mine were 62 and it still wasn't enough.”

Medicine balls sit on the floor near an unused wheelchair after an Adaptive Athletes in Motion workout on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. “We have the ability to really look at where the challenge lies for the athlete and what they need to do to be successful out in the real world, where you're going to spend 23 hours a day. Right?” Snyder said. “We're going to design our workouts to really supplement or compliment that lifestyle. Our approach to high intensity to function training is when you leave here, there is no ramp that you're afraid to go down.”

Lainie Rodgers wheels herself through a crowd of athletes during an Adaptive Athletes in Motion fundraising event on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at Brave Enough Cross Fit in Kansas City. “I'm not shy at all because all these people are my friends and a community I know I'm safe in,” Rodgers said. “And that's what it all comes down to, Josh has created this safe atmosphere that we can go to and not be too shy to speak up and say, ‘Hey, I need help with this.’”