Paralympic Athlete Blake Leeper Wants to Show the Fitness Industry It's 'Easy' to 'Include Everybody'

Blake Leeper is ready to disrupt the fitness industry.

The Paralympic athlete recently partnered up with Degree for its #TrainersforHire campaign to promote representation and encourage companies to hire more trainers with disabilities, just in time for National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October.

Leeper, who was born without lower legs, launched the partnership last week with a spin class held outdoors on the streets of downtown Manhattan. The goal of the class, which took place amid the city hustle and bustle, was to prove that a person with a disability is just as capable of leading a fitness class as anyone else.

"I loved the spin class in downtown New York, [it] was truly amazing," Leeper, 32, tells PEOPLE of the event. "Like just being in that atmosphere, people just like walking by, buses honking."

While Leeper says the goal of the campaign is to "call out" the fitness industry for its lack of representation of people with disabilities, he also wants to "show the city that hey, we're here having fun, we're here working out, but look how easy it is to include everybody."

According to research from the Lakeshore Foundation, 81% of people with disabilities do not feel comfortable entering a gym or fitness space — a statistic that Leeper tells PEOPLE was "a tough thing to hear" and inspired him to get involved.

Leeper understands the discomfort — "even to this day, I can catch myself at races, and I'm at a track and field race and I'm the only disabled athlete there," he says — but pushes back against misconceptions about people with disabilities.

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"Just give us a shot, bring us in. Let us run a class. Give us the space that we can be creative, and I promise you, you will not be disappointed," the 2012 London Paralympics bronze and silver medalist says.

When he's teaching classes, the decorated athlete hopes participants are "having so much fun that they forget about disability. They don't even care, they can't even fathom, even think about that because they're having so much fun and we're just thinking about the movement and the camaraderie in the community that we're coming together."

"And that's the takeaway," he says. "I want people to realize that regardless of your outcome or regardless of your situation, you can lead classes. Regardless of that you might be disabled, you can run a fitness gym or industry. It can happen, and it can be amazing."

Ultimately, Leeper wants others to be able to share in his joy of movement.

"'I'm just so honored that Degree wanted to collaborate with me and give me a chance to show the world that yes, I am disabled," he says. "And yes, I am missing my legs, but I can run a spin class. And if I can do it, imagine [what] all the amazing other disabled individuals in this world could do."