The Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast

E127: Neurodivergent Fitness & Hypermobility Training Tips with Coach Abby Clapper

• Kerry Reller

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In Episode #127, Dr. Kerry Reller talks with personal trainer and fitness educator Abby Clapper, founder of Endorfin Wellness, about how she customizes workouts for clients with neurodivergence and hypermobility. Abby explains what neurodivergence really means, how the fitness industry often overlooks this population, and how she helps clients build strength safely from the ground up—literally.

They also discuss managing chronic conditions like dysautonomia, fibromyalgia, and endometriosis through movement, why starting with small, sustainable steps matters, and the importance of consistency over perfection.

Whether you're new to exercise or want to better support someone with different physical or mental needs, this episode is packed with thoughtful, inclusive tips to help fitness feel more accessible for everyone.

Abby is a certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine, a group exercise instructor, and a yoga teacher. With over 8 years of experience as a personal trainer, she has worked with a wide range of clients—each with unique goals, limitations, and life circumstances. From helping people take their first steps toward better health to designing specialized programs for those with physical restrictions, her mission is to make fitness feel possible for everyone. Known for her compassionate approach and expertise, Abby helps clients increase their energy, perform better in their daily lives, and become healthy role models for their families, coworkers, and communities.

0:00 – Welcome and Guest Introduction
0:46 – Abby’s Background and Credentials
2:16 – What is Neurodivergence and How It Affects Fitness
3:28 – How Abby Adapts Fitness for Neurodivergent Clients
5:32 – Movement Basics and Challenges with Hypermobility
9:06 – Physical and Mental Health Progress from Consistent Training
10:55 – A Client’s Big Win: Gaining Strength to Enjoy Life Again
13:29 – Spoon Theory and Energy Management in Chronic Conditions
17:01 – Joint Instability, Hypermobility, and Injury Prevention
22:30 – Final Mindset Shift: Health is a Long-Term Commitment

Connect with Coach Abby
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachabbyclapper/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachabbyclapper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwENBJ3ae13Cv0B41wtD2PQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-clapper-40018360/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coachabbyclapper

Connect with Dr. Kerry Reller
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou... 
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermd
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...
Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...

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Kerry:

All right. Hi everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have an awesome guest, Abby Clapper. Welcome to the podcast.

Abby:

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Kerry:

Yes, and I know you're gonna tell us all about your podcast as well, but why don't you tell us about who you are and what you do.

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely. So I am a personal trainer full-time. I own my own business right now. I graduated with my bachelor's in kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh back in 2017. I'm also a certified exercise physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. A certified yoga instructor and a group exercise instructor. So I do a little bit of it all. But I've been doing personal training the most for the past eight years, and absolutely love it.

Kerry:

That's awesome. I, I like how you have all these different. Different, you know, kind of hats that you're wearing as well. And tell us the name of your practice because I think that is one of my most favorite things after, you know, looking up a little bit of you on the internet. I

Abby:

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, my business is endorphin wellness, but endorphin is spelled E-N-D-O-R-F-I-N. So it relates a little bit better to Florida while still hitting those endorphins.

Kerry:

Yes. I love it. Yeah, we're obviously in, you know, the Tampa Bay area and water's a big deal, so it's. You know, fins. I love it. I love it. I love the name of it. But anyway, so you are definitely a passionate person about health, wellness you know, fitness and lifestyle, and you have, you know, so much to offer. And before we were recording, we were talking about how you have some little niches within that community and so I guess, let me just start with, you know, one, a good question here, which are there parts of mainstream fitness culture that feel especially difficult to access or to fit for someone who is neurodivergent? So we were talking before about the podcast, about this kind different community that you've been exposed to.

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely. The majority of my clients are neurodivergent, which which I love, I kind of fell into it. And for those who are unfamiliar with Neurodivergence, it's just you know, when someone's brain works a little bit differently, so it can range from ADHD, autism, OCD some different mental health disorders, different, they a wide range. Everyone's brain is like, is like a thumbprint. It's all different so everyone, you know, reacts differently to different things. So anyways, I kind of fell into this niche. I found some neurodivergent clients and it's really taught me a lot about. Different needs within the fitness industry that a lot of times, like in school, I didn't learn about, you know, how to handle, you know, something outside of the general population. So there are a lot of things within like mainstream fitness that don't relate well to people whose brains work a little bit differently. You know, whether it's. Going to a fitness center, being overstimulated by all of the different equipment, the loud music, the bright lights, the loud fans, gyms can be really difficult, a really difficult place. So what I do is I'll either go to people's homes and do their sessions at their homes, or I will do a virtual program with them. So I'll give them a workout that they can do at home from the comfort of their own space at a time that works well with their schedules.

Kerry:

Yeah. I'm so glad you defined it because I think that's a word that's thrown out, you know, around neurodivergence. Like what does that really mean? But yeah. Like you were saying, people's, you know, brain operates a little bit differently. I mean, everybody's unique in their own way, obviously, and being able to cater toward what is gonna work best for your client or patient is, is very important in any industry. Right. So I think that's amazing that your ability to adapt everything. So how do you, besides, you know, the environment, how else do you adapt to like workouts or communication styles for your client's needs?

Abby:

it, you kind of have to learn how to do it with the clients. So, you know, like where we're saying every client is different. So some clients, you know, react better to verbal cues. Some need more demonstration some need more hands-on, just really depending on what the exercise is. So it's figuring out what works best for each person. And this can go outside of the neurodivergent community as well. You know, everyone learns differently too. I spent, the majority of my career was in the corporate wellness space, so I had a lot of different, a lot of different people.'cause there's a variety of different people that work in offices and then they all come together. And so everyone is individual and unique and just finding what works best for each person. So yeah, just finding the ways that they resonate with the most or maybe a combination of each. I'm actually doing a continuing education course right now on autism and exercise. And so it's giving a lot of really good resources for, you know, not just people with autism, but you know, people all over the neurodivergent community or with clients in general.

Kerry:

I think, and that's like a tricky part with autism as well because they are with different therapies like applied behavior therapy for the kids and stuff. I don't know how much they focus on like physical activity and things like that. So I think that's a really good component to try to bring into there. And. I think that that's, that's fantastic. There's even continuing education on these kind of things'cause I would've never really thought so. So that's cool. So in this kind of community or anything like that, do you find that there's certain types of movement or training that's a little bit more accessible or beneficial for

Abby:

Yeah. Yeah, I would say so. So, you know, we start we start with the basics. So if someone doesn't have experience with with exercise, so like you said, you know, especially with kids, it's not necessarily, I'm hoping that's changing now, especially now that we're learning more about it, that k ids will be able to start, you know, finding that physical activity sooner. But a lot of times when you know, you have someone who is neurodivergent it, it comes you know, your, your body awareness sometimes just isn't. It's just not well known to, to yourself. So starting with lightweights, helping someone figure out how to move their bodies properly. I know I had mentioned before we started, hypermobility can also play a part for for some different neurodivergent clients as well. So making sure that, my clients know how to stabilize their bodies and move their muscles properly is huge to me. So you know, we're starting out using really lightweights and just going through everyday functional movements, squats, hinges, pulls, pushes, things like that. Is, you know, something that's really important. It's gonna help them in their day to day. But then from there, once those base movements are established, then we can move into more of the accessory things. You know, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks but we have the foundations built first, which I think is really important.

Kerry:

How do you well, let's see. So how do you basically understand that they need that extra step? And are some of these people or patients, clients, whatever, I don't know what to call'em. Are they like new to exercise? I guess that's my real question. Like are they usually completely new and like you said, they have to learn how to do the movement at the basic, in the basic level.

Abby:

I would say it's, it's probably 50 50. Some people have exercised in the past. Now, you know, in my generation, a lot of us grew up hearing that cardio was the only way to go, and so strength training just naturally for a lot of people wasn't something that was taught. So there were, you know, I do have some clients who, who did sports previously. And so they had been through different exercise programs, but our bodies are different now. You know, a lot of my clients are in, in their thirties and forties, and so our bodies move a lot different now than they did when we were in, you know, our teenage and twenties and college years. So so yeah, I would say that, you know, it, it really just kind of depends. I really do start similarly with each, with each group, whether they have exercised or haven't, we do the basic movements. And this might sound funny for like people who usually go to the gym and who are familiar with it, but I start a lot of people on the floor. So like if we do a chest press. We don't do it off of a bench or a raised surface because that can allow for the arms to do, you know, crazy things go farther past what they should be. And it really teaches like that proper movement. And by doing it on the floor, you have a little bit more stability. You're also a little bit more comfortable with your range of motion. So that's just something that I personally take into consideration when I'm working with someone. I'm not sure that everyone would, but that's just something that I do.

Kerry:

No, I mean, I think that's, that makes a lot of sense. I used to, I didn't have a bench until Christmas, so that's new for me. So I was always doing things on the floor and you know, my husband and I, we do like our workout routines mostly at home. So I, I'd felt uncomfortable when I moved to the bench and it was like a whole new learning process for me again. And see why you would start with the floor.'cause I definitely felt safer, like all of a sudden doing chest press on the bench, it was like, I'm not doing as much weight'cause I'm nervous, you know, and things are, I'm not sure where things are. So I, I can relate to that for

Abby:

Absolutely.

Kerry:

Yeah. I was gonna say, so have you noticed any improvement or have they, your clients like, said that there's improvement in their ADHD or any other like, mental health symptoms as they, you know, continue to work with you and work out more?

Abby:

That's a really interesting question. I don't know that their that their diagnosis or symptoms have necessarily changed. However being able to have a, what word am I looking for Having like an accountable consistent routine has been the game changer because, you know, a lot of times specifically with ADHD, finding that routine can be sometimes difficult because there's A lot of different things that you wanna focus on and finding the things that you wanna use your executive function for they can vary from day to day with autism as well. So, but by having someone, keeping them accountable, keeping them consistent over, you know, one year, two years, they're definitely seeing the physical changes that they hadn't seen from maybe an on again off again routine that they've tried in the past. I will say with a couple of my clients, their, their proprioception, their, their self-awareness of their bodies has improved. They are gaining strength you know, better mobility. They're able to maybe do things that they hadn't been able to do in the past. Like, let's say if someone has like dysautonomia those symptoms aren't necessarily better, but they're able to better manage them or you know, they're not hurting themselves when they're exercising because now they're lifting weights properly and it won't throw their joints, their muscles into, you know, a flare up that they might have experienced in the past.

Kerry:

I think you mentioned something that's important, like consistency, right? And having that schedule, so I can imagine that someone perhaps with a DHD is getting overstimulated from things and where to go on the internet with workouts and Right. There's a million different choices out there. And working with one person, you know on a consistent basis with a schedule can definitely be more helpful for any person that has kind of some of those qualities. I think. So that's a really good point there. Do you have any like client wins that you would wanna share? For anybody who's in this, you know, neurodivergent category

Abby:

Oh my gosh. I feel like there are so many wins. I feel like we've had like a lot of really good wins. Outside, like, so I focus a lot too on non scale victories, right? So I focus primarily on weightlifting. I think people should be strong. I think it can help you as you age. We wanna maintain muscle as we go. But I do think there's, there's one specifically that I can think of. I have one client who who will have like flareups, you know, on different days. You know, it doesn't, it kind of depends on how hard she's working or if she's doing something really really strenuous. But she's been able to go to theme parks with her friends, whereas in the past maybe she would be having a flare up or she'd be in a lot of pain and her friends would have to push her in, in a wheelchair just so that she could still, you know, participate and, lately, which has been awesome. She's been able to, she's, you know, gained enough strength and she's been doing really well. She'll still get flare-ups, but she's been able to to go to the theme parks and not need a lot of assistance from her friends, which was a really big win for her and for me. I think that that's amazing. I want my clients to experience things like that. That's not to say that maybe another day she wouldn't need some extra help. But she's just feeling stronger and more capable to do these things. So that's been really exciting.

Kerry:

That's an amazing one. I'm gonna assume is this person also like you mentioned before the hypermobility, is that person also kind of have struggling with that as well? Like what kind of flare up? I didn't know what

Abby:

Yeah. So endometriosis is is one that she has. So she would've endometriosis, flareups endometriosis like I said, one of my other clients has the dysautonomia you know, on top of, of the neurodivergent. So, you know, it's really, I give my clients a ton of credit because they are managing so many things, right? So they're managing their physical health, they're managing their mental health and it's really draining. And, you know, we talked a little bit about executive function. And I don't know if you've ever heard of the Spoon Theory. It's something that I like to bring up to everybody, but especially in the neurodivergent community. The spoon theory is when, like, let's say you start your day with 20 spoons it costs you something to do each part of your day. So even just to get outta bed. It might cost you two spoons, so now you've only got 18 left. Do you eat breakfast or do you watch tv? You know, they cost different amounts of spoons. Do you brush your teeth or do you take the dog for a walk? Different amounts of spoons. And so by midday, some people could be out of their spoons already, but still have to push through the rest of the day, essentially taking spoons from the next day. So they're always kind of feeling like they're in a deficit. So that's something that's really interesting that I like to think about when it comes to people who are neurodivergent or have chronic conditions because you know, a lot of times they're, they're really pushing through more than they have available.

Kerry:

I've heard a similar theory, not described the spoons. It's also like kind of something like about a little bit of willpower theory too. I'm not really sure this is exactly parallel to what you're saying, but you only have so many like, minutes of willpower within a day like 15. And some of that could be choosing, you know, walking the dog or whatever. But, you know, I think it's a, it's a similar thought that you kind of run out of that. And how do you build that back is. A big question that we all need to learn.

Abby:

absolutely. And that also brings up, within the community of, you know, having with Neurodivergence and with chronic conditions allowing rest. A lot of, a lot of personal trainers will, will push people. You know, they, you wanna push people hard. But when you're understanding with these chronic conditions, with neurodivergence, sometimes like with anyone, obviously rest is needed. Rest is a good thing. But catering the workouts just a little bit differently to people having things that they can do while they're laying on the couch or while they're laying in bed. Because it does cost something to get up from those places. And if they still wanna be able to do something, a stretching routine can be just as beneficial as, you know, going out and doing a weight routine depending on what their body can do that day. So it's really interesting. It's very different from working with someone. Who's not neurodivergent or doesn't have chronic conditions. So the, the difference is just, it's fascinating.

Kerry:

I would like ache in that to like active recovery days, which I think are also Yeah, kind of very important. And I'm preaching to the choir, AKA myself, which I need to make more active recovery days. But yeah, that's definitely a, an important factor that needs to be incorporated into any, you know, fitness or what exercise routine, whatever you wanna call it is rest. Yeah. You, we touched on it before, so what are some unique challenges that hypermobility presents when it comes to exercise and strength training?

Abby:

Yeah, hypermobility. A lot of people who are hypermobile sometimes don't know that they're hypermobile until they see you know, a professional. Someone, my massage therapist just told me that he told someone that she was hypermobile the other day and she was like, what? I had no idea. But by doing certain tests, you can see now thankfully people have told me that they're hypermobile. I haven't found that out on my own, but you have a higher risk of injury often because the joints just aren't, aren't moving properly and they can hyperextend leading to, you know, obviously pulling muscles, tearing tendons, ligaments, things like that. So it's, it's being really careful and just like a little bit more cautious now. My hypermobile client can still lift pretty heavy weights now and can do a lot of things, but just having a little bit more caution around those things. Doing frequent check-ins, you know, how's that joint, how are the muscles around that joint feeling? And making sure that they're moving in the proper, the proper range of motion, so if we're doing like a shoulder press, if you see those shoulders start to go forward or back just kind of correcting or finding a different way to do those shoulder presses so that their joints are aligned and finding a better position. So there's definitely the challenge, I would say, of, of injury and also maybe not feeling an exercise where like the general population without hypermobility would feel it. So for example, if we're doing let's say like a bent over row, like a single arm bent over row maybe feeling it more in like their tricep or their shoulder instead of in their back. That just means that we need to kind of adjust, do as a personal trainer, have better queuing, you know, roll the shoulder down and back, put that joint into the place where it needs to be, and then slowly moving through the motion maybe with just a little bit more queuing to make sure that it's going into the right spot. So it does bring its own set of challenges, but there are ways definitely ways to overcome them.

Kerry:

Would you say patient or clients who have something like ehlers Danlos, or even fibromyalgia would fall under this category?

Abby:

Absolutely. Yes. I actually recently learned what what was the first one you said? ehlers-.

Kerry:

ehlers Danlos?

Abby:

Yes, is a, I think it's a type of hypermobility and I just found out one of the members in a class that I teach has it, and I was like, that's fascinating. Would've been good to know you know, before taking this class. But but yeah, that definitely falls under it. Fibromyalgia, I think has a little bit more to do with like inflammation too, so there's just a little bit more pain in the joints I think as opposed to hypermobility, depending on what happens. But definitely I would take a similar approach to, to that as well.

Kerry:

You know, it's interesting you mentioned mentioned like tendons and risk of rupture and things like that. Well, pregnancy is a state of you know, I don't, I don't wanna say hyper mobility, but a state of, you know, risk for that as well. Right. Would you say, I don't know if you work with any pregnant clients, but you

Abby:

I've had a couple. Yeah. And they, they definitely get their joints and everything just gets a little bit looser. They get a little bit more flexible. And so that's Yeah, absolutely. Something to, to, you know, take care of when, which is funny because when I see people, pregnant women who do CrossFit is fascinating to me because I'm like, wow. Like you are, that is just so insane to me. Like they're working so hard and doing so much with this baby in their belly. It's just wild.

Kerry:

Yeah, it, I mean, it's healthy and we still, you know, can say that you can do these things. I think the only risk with that is usually, you know, pelvic floor issues later on. And unfortunately, I think you're, you might get that either way. So I don't really see that it's like a thing that you need to stop doing that. But yeah. So is there anything that you would say is kind of harmful or unhelpful for patients who are hyper immobile?

Abby:

I don't think that there would be anything harmful as long as you know, if you're either, if you're doing a, a program by yourself just making sure that you're really in tune with your body or maybe having, you know, someone who, maybe a friend or someone who you know, is within the fitness industry and can maybe check your form and make sure that you're doing okay. I'll always recommend working with a coach or a trainer just because they're really able to kind of help put you in the right position help, you know, assess what you're feeling and, you know, its importance of, or, you know, where if it's something that's harmful or not harmful. I think it's super beneficial because it really can help stabilize the joints as opposed to just letting them continue to be loosey goosey. And so yeah, I would say strength, strength training would be a benefit for anyone who's hyper mobile.

Kerry:

Do you assist anybody with like cardio as well?

Abby:

Most of my clients do cardio on their own unless you know, sometimes I'll program it in for them. But it'll be, you know, something similar. Either something they can do at home and something that's, you know, well within their, their means that I know that their, their joints are able to do. But I think a lot of times, especially steady state cardio, like, you know, running ellipticals, things like that have kind of limited motions, especially an elliptical or like a bike. You'll have limited range of motion, which will kind of keep them where they need to be.

Kerry:

Okay. Since we already kind of asked you about client wins, what is maybe a strength building tip that you would give to someone with joint instability? I.

Abby:

Oh, I would definitely say to start with lightweight and start stabilizing first. So when people think about strength training, they think about lifting really heavy weights. They see people throwing around barbells, you know, doing deadlifts and squats in the gym. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting with lightweights. And teaching your joints how to move correctly. That's, I'm a huge advocate for that. Because we wanna continue to move well as we age. And even if you're not hypermobile and you haven't exercised yet, still starting light and learning how to move your joints through the proper range of motion is so important for continuing to move well as you get older.

Kerry:

I would even argue that starting with no weight at all is, you know, kind of beneficial too, like, even with like arm exercises, if you really focus on, you know, that mind body connection, you can get, you know, good I get, what is the word? Contraction of the muscles and, you know, start building muscle there. Yeah. And what I really like that you said is you kind of start people on the floor too, because not only are we talking about how I, you know felt safer on the floor, but just because you're talking about life's life, movement and managing throughout the day and everything, you gotta be able to get up off the floor,

Abby:

Mm-hmm.

Kerry:

Successfully and be building those muscles and those movements that are, you know, helpful for longevity as well. So really a, a good idea. What what else do you wanna share with our listeners today?

Abby:

Yeah. So I do have on my website, so endorfinwellness.com/ free dash resources. I have a, a workout template, so if you are new to working out, even if you're hypermobile, if you're, you know, dealing with any type of thing, it's a very simple way to start your own start your own workout routine. It's super easy. You can do it at home, you can do it at a gym. But basically it'll give you, there's an index of exercises you can track your food if you want to, you can track you know, your, what weights you're using and just track your other healthy activities. You're like a healthy habit tracker, so it is in a PDF form. If you're interested in looking for a place to start you're welcome to to download that. And all of the exercises are linked to a YouTube video so you can watch the form videos as well. And then obviously reach out if you have any questions about that.

Kerry:

That sounds like a great resource. Very cool. We can include that in our show notes and everything. Right.

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely.

Kerry:

Okay. Cool. So one, I guess only one last question, but what is one mindset shift that you think we all need to make when it comes to health and fitness?

Abby:

Oh, that it doesn't need to be perfect. And that consistency over time is where you're going to see the results. So many people want fast results and wanna see it you know, doing different like fad diets or things like that. But it's a fad for a reason. It doesn't last a long time. And so we wanna look at health and wellness as long term instead of short term. So you might have short term aesthetic goals and that's totally fine, but we could shift that mindset into thinking, okay, well I want to, maybe you wanna look good, not just for the wedding that's coming up in three months, but you wanna look good for the long term, right? You wanna continue to look good well past your, your wedding that's in three months. So. I think shifting the mindset to more of something long term is a game changer because I mean ultimately like you can do a crash diet for three months and mess up your metabolism and maybe see results, but then gain the weight right back as soon as you hop off the diet. But if you really make small sustainable changes over time, you'll see more results and you'll feel better as well.

Kerry:

I think you put way more than one, one idea in there, so that's okay. But I think you overachieved, those were all really, really great points. And you mentioned your website. Why don't you tell us about where can people find you and tell us a little bit about your podcast.

Abby:

Yeah. So I am at Coach Abby Clapper pretty much everywhere, Instagram, Facebook. LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. I try to cover all the bases. And then on those on whatever mode of social media you're looking at, you can also find my podcast, which is called Talk Your Abs off. It's a fitness podcast. It focuses on a variety of different health and wellness things. Essentially I want. I want people to find the one thing that's gonna work for them that they can keep doing for a lifetime. So so yeah, talk your abs off on Spotify, apple podcasts, YouTube, anywhere you get your podcasts. Yeah, that's, that's about it for that. Yeah.

Kerry:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today and teaching us all about neurodivergence and hypermobility and everything that you know about, you know, exercise and fitness. So this was a lot of fun. And everybody please, you know, thank Abby and we will tune in next week for next week's episode. Okay.

Abby:

Thank you so much.

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Dr. Kerry Reller

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