Javeno Mclean isn’t just any personal trainer……it doesn’t take long once seeing Javeno’s videos on social media to see why he is such an inspirational individual. I was happily scrolling through TikTok one day looking at funny animal video’s when out of nowhere Javeno popped up, and within seconds I was drawn in by Javeno’s energy, which is something that takes hold of you, shakes you up and down and then say’s hey “whatever you are going through in life, you have got this”! In the video he was talking to a group of young people who were around 13 years old, he was encouraging them to be more confident, reminding them to look up when they speak, maintain eye contact and be proud of who they are, I have to admit, I was really impressed by what I saw and immediately jumped onto his TikTok page to watch some more, it was here that I realised how much more there is to this amazing guy.

Javeno own’s and operates J7 Fitness in Manchester. Javeno doesn’t like to use the word gym, as he feels this is too restrictive, and J7 is so much more.

Javeno recently held the world’s biggest wheelchair exercise class and broke a world record, but on September 24th he want’s to do it again, but this time it’s not just people in wheelchairs, it’s open to anybody, disabled, able bodied, young, old, male or female and will be held at Abraham Moss School - please check Javeno’s social’s below for details.

Wordplay Magazine sat down with Javeno Mclean to find out more about this truly inspirational man:

Wordplay Magazine: Tell me how it all began, what made you want to start helping and inspiring people?

Javeno Mclean: I don't know what it's down to, maybe the way I've been raised, but I've always believed if you have power you have a gift, and by a gift I mean something you can do easier than anyone else. Like musicians, the Jay-Z’s out there that without thinking, can come up with ideas and bars. I was a cricketer, at a top level, it was my true love. I’m Jamaican and it's a big sport for us. It was all I wanted to do until I realised that I got more out of what I could do with other people more than myself. I’ve now been training people for 21 years, anyone disabled or with cancer, parkinson’s, dementia and I don’t take a penny off them, which I’m very proud of. It sounds corny but people are attracted to my energy and to my vibe. It's mad that it started so long ago for me, helping people - I was always a top athlete and was the sickest sportsman but I just didn’t get as much enjoyment out of that as I did helping people. I was working for the council, everyone who knows me knows this story, and I had a job teaching exercise classes to the community. I ended up having a problem with the council as they kept putting my names on the flyers for the classes, I didn’t want them to be selling me on the flyers, you can’t put my energy on a flyer, the only way you can sell that is by being in my presence and in my classes. I had one dude at the classes when no one was turning up who said “why don’t you want the name on the flyers? No one comes to the classes anyway”. I said you’ve got to believe in it, and now I’ve got some of the biggest classes in the UK and my reputation is getting bigger and bigger. I'm not money hungry, I don’t chase money. I believe if you’re good at your job you’ll make money. So when I started training people with cancer and disabilities for free, I didn’t put it out there for a long time. I'm not the kind of guy to use it for clout, we live in a society where instead of giving a homeless person food they get out their phone and want to film it and say “look at me”. I’ve only started posting on social media because a lady from one of my OAP classes filmed it and posted it on her social media, from that I got hundreds of messages asking if they could come. That's when I realised the positive power, that by posting it, it gets out to more people and helps connect with more people. Now I’ve got people every day messaging me, today I’ve had 300+ messages from people all over the world. I’m a big believer of organic energy and not having staged videos, I press record and whatever we capture, we capture. I want to help people and support people, it's good for the soul. And if i'm training someone “normal” i'll take your money because I have a business to run, but if you are vulnerable and I say “I want to help” and then say “that will be £400 please” I don't really want to help, that’s why I don't take a penny from these people. For example, one of the young boys in my videos has cerebral palsy, I helped him stand up, he held on and stood up - he's 26 and never been able to do that before, he was buzzing. I got a video message from a disabled boy from Northern Ireland who watched that video and said “I can do that, why am I not doing this” and he did it! It's amazing what people can do just from my videos inspiring them. This is motivation, actual motivation for people to get up and make a change! It's something that's easy for me and that’s why it's my gift. It's something I can do to help people and I can help people fall in love with health and fitness, I can do it with anyone I guarantee it. There's so much power to being a nice person and wanting to help people!

WP: In a lot of your videos you aren’t rocking shoes? Is that because you don’t like wearing shoes?

JM: No, I do a lot of things with the youngsters in the gym and I try to explain this to them. People these days in the world of social media have a battle with themselves. And I’m a believer of being who you are. Part of my success is because I've always been me, I'm the same now as I was 20 years ago. I wear either sliders and socks or no shoes because it liberates me. I feel free, I’ve done it since my cricketing days. So now when I do it, it's more than just not having my shoes on, it's part of me! I did an interview with ITV the other day and the producer asked me if I was going to put shoes on and I said no, this is me and I'm going to be me. When I'm working I need to be 100% me to inspire other people to be 100% them. In society these days people are too busy chasing other people and trying to be other people so I want people to look at me and go this guy is 100% himself let me be who I want to be and be organic!

WP: Talking about the gym, your gym; J7 has won gym of the year 3 years in a row, what do you think makes your gym so special that you can keep winning these awards?

JM: When I opened the gym I set myself some goals. They were to redefine certain terms and I hate the word “gym” that's why it's called the J7 health centre. A gym can be a lonely intimidating place. Even for me when I used to go to gyms, even though I'm healthy and strong I wanted to create an environment for people to feel safe. I wanted somewhere anyone could come in and feel welcome, somewhere where no one is watching you and judging what you're doing. It needed to be somewhere where you walk in and feel comfortable and inspired. On the walls there's drawings from the kids, you see people in wheelchairs and with disabilities, but you can also see pro athletes, regular people, all in the same safe space. People on their journeys trying to improve their journeys, not caring about what you look like or your race. Like I said I'm Caribbean so any opportunity to bring people together, I want to do that, and create a family atmosphere and a warm atmosphere. I opened the gym not to make money but to change lives.

WP: You recently held the biggest ever indoor wheelchair exercise class, so 2 parts to this question. How many people attended? And how did it come about?

JM: The first question I’m not going to tell you is the number. Because I knew I was going to beat the record, I'm doing it again in September where I want it to be monstrous. The number was okay but that was just the gate opener. I’m not thrilled about the number but the September one I want over 100 and to fill the room. Secondly it came about because I was training someone outside the gym and before the session I had a few messages from people in wheelchairs because I posted a video of a client in a wheelchair. And by the end of the session I had about 200 messages all from people in wheelchairs, from all around the country. At that moment I realised in the UK I'm the only person these people are looking for leadership in how they can exercise. So I thought I need to shop resilience and show how determined and unbreakable these people are. What better way to inspire them than with an event where these people can attend and feel the energy. I did it because of all the love and feedback I've been getting from all over the country. The event in September is going to be huge, and I have people coming from all over the country, whereas the one in June was mainly local people. It again was something very organic that is growing very naturally. I put it on social media and it just grew from there.

WP: You’re a huge advocate for helping young people. What made you realise young people needed that boost to help them believe in themselves?

JM: I realised that a lot of these young men need male role models. I've had J7 for 5 years and it's made me realise, a lot of people in the community came to me about male role models. I love teaching young men to be respectful to women! We also need to teach them to respect other young men, and I think having a strong male role model is the best way to do that! A lot of young men in these communities don't seem to have that, and it's something that some young men have chosen me for. Without knowing, naturally I've become their role model because their dads aren’t there. I’m a voice they listen to and they've chosen me to teach them how to be young men in the community and for that I’m blessed. It's also something I take extremely seriously.

WP: You’ve worked with so many different people, you don’t see ability or disability and your smashing stereotypes people have about people with disabilities. What made you realise that you could help so many people?

JM: I’ve got a voice people want to listen to and I didn’t realise how powerful that was until I started seeing the actions from people, their parents and partners. I have no filter so my approach is I don’t care about your wheelchair or condition, I see you and that's all I care about. I realise, especially now I’m a dad, how important that is. Your disability doesn’t define you! All people want is to be treated equally.

WP: I know you love music, what albums you got on heavy rotation on Spotify right now?

JM: Right now bro, I love prince! So I've got prince on. Jay Z normally on heavy spin too. Do you know who MGMT are? They’re normally on as well! But it's such an eclectic mix.

WP: What do you like to do when you aren’t training and inspiring people?

JM: I speak to so many people that I like to remove myself, go to the woods with my family and just be with my family away from everyone. I like walking in the woods getting messy. We love animals so seeing birds, frogs or anything like that really relaxes me.

WP: Tell me 3 things you can’t live without?

JM: My family! Especially my wife (she cooks for me and keeps me fed, haha). Music, I couldn't live without music. Or without exercise, or an environment to train, I need somewhere to exercise. I’m lucky to own a facility but if I didn't have that I would need a space to put my headphones in and get on it.

Connect with Javeno on his social media - IG: @j7healthjaveno TikTok: @javeno7

Interview: Ed Lindsay