Despite being paralyzed from the neck down, Andrew Bogdanov spends his days being as active as possible, whether he’s working out in an adaptive gym or playing wheelchair sports.

This is how he stays positive and tries to prove to others with physical limitations that life doesn’t end even when you can no longer walk on your own two feet without assistance.

Today, as the New Horizons Disability Empowerment Center’s accredited personal trainer and fitness coordinator, Bogdanov’s determined to spread his goodwill to those in the adaptive community by providing a helping hand and a generous heart.

From 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, the new 1,600-plus-square-foot Adaptive Fitness Center at New Horizons, 9400 E. Valley Road in Prescott Valley, will play host to its grand opening – and everyone’s invited.

“This is a no-judgment zone,” Bogdanov of Chino Valley said this past week from the adaptive gym. “People have challenges, and when they feel not included, they isolate. We want them to come and work out. We all care. We don’t want people to isolate. They can have fun.”

Grand-opening festivities will include giveaways from event sponsor Office Max. Prescott Veterans Affairs Hospital recreation therapist Cory Sanders and veterans from the domiciliary are also scheduled to appear.

“We need vets out here,” New Horizons event and relationship manager Robynne Lukas said. “We’re looking for volunteers.”

Membership to the adaptive gym, which features specialized workout equipment for the disabled, is free. Bogdanov welcomes men and women, seniors and younger folks to train on the equipment, too.

“The gym’s designed for working out and socializing,” Lukas said. “We’re not the buff beasts stuck on the barbells and stuff. Camaraderie is important as well. It’s so much more than a gym.”

POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE

In fact, the gym maintains 15 machines and four adaptive equipment stations, as well as racks of free-weight dumbbells, all in a climate-controlled gym where wheelchair-bound people can roll up to a piece of equipment and work out.

An adaptive hand-cycle machine (for building arm