What is Shame-Free Fitness?
a continuing education course for fitness professionals who are ready to do things differently
If you are a: group exercise instructor, personal trainer, gym manager, or other fit pro who values serving your clients in a way that's free of guilt, shame, manipulation, and weight-loss centered messaging, you've found the right place!
Shame-Free Fitness is for folks who strive to be the change within an industry that is centered around diet culture.
The fitness industry feels kinda skeezy.
Does all of the "no-pain-no-gain-no-excuses" fitness bro marketing cause you to question your role in this industry? It sure does for me.
In a sector that is built upon profiting off of peoples' insecurities about their bodies, it can feel conflicting to be a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, or other exercise professional when your values system doesn't line up with the status quo of the industry.
When we've...
learned from celebrities and influences that fitness is supposed to look one specific way...
been told in our certification courses that we should "look the part" and "be the example"...and this advice comes right along with developing disordered eating and obsessive exercise behaviors...
bought in to the narrative that personal choice dictates health outcomes, but we're now learning this doesn't paint the full picture...and are beginning to recognize that SO many other factors such as: lived experience, privilege, access, and social determinants have a much larger impact...
it can be confusing, weird, and just plain hard to feel good about working in the fitness industry.
In Shame-Free Fitness, you'll...
- Learn about what diet culture is and will be able to identify how it (sneakily and blatantly) shows up in fitness programming and marketing
- Critically examine the common shame-based cues we often hear and use in fitness, and begin to incorporate a new vocabulary that will allow you to create a consent-based space for all folks, especially those who experience things like: body dissatisfaction, disordered eating/exercise behaviors, weight stigma, and more.
- Get real-life practice on navigating tricky conversations with your classes and clients around exercise, eating, and bodies in a professional way that doesn't perpetuate shame
- Gain a better understanding of how diet culture has impacted your own life, both personally and professionally (...which is kinda uncomfortable yet very important work to do if it's something you're seeking to change within your fitness communities!)
Hi! I'm Sadie Simpson
I'm an anti-diet culture Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor.
With over 15 years of experience in the wellness industry, I’ve seen how disordered behaviors from gym members, group fitness instructors, and personal trainers can be all-consuming:
- over-exercising
- yo-yo dieting
- weight cycling
- body dissatisfaction
- disordered eating
- and the high prevalence of weight stigma and anti-fat bias within the fitness industry
I’m excited to bring my experiences from the fitness industry and as an Intuitive Eating Counselor together and create opportunities for other health and fitness professionals to disengage from diet culture!
To learn more about me, visit my website: sadiesimpson.com
Why did you get into the business of fitness?
Most fit pros I know got into this business because they genuinely want to help motivate people to live a healthier lifestyle.
That’s awesome!
But it’s time we begin to question what being helpful, motivating, and healthy actually even mean.
Is it helpful to deliver fitness-based weight loss programs when, statistically speaking, most people who lose weight through dieting will regain that weight within one year?
No, it’s not.
Is it motivating to be shamed into exercise by hearing words like “let’s burn off those weekend cheat meals” from group fitness instructors?
Oh no.
Is it healthy to spend so much time, effort, energy and money in the pursuit of a specific number on the scale (for ourselves and our clients).
Nah.
Can we help others cultivate authentic health if we’re encouraging individual behavior change without also taking lived experience, privilege, personal trauma, and social determinants into account?
Nope.
Is it possible to feel good about being a part of the fitness industry? Can we actually improve our gym membership numbers, increase class attendance, enroll new clients, and grow a thriving fitness business without promoting weight loss and resorting to manipulative and shame-based tactics?
Hell yes it is!
and I'm here to help you do that.
That's why I created Shame-Free Fitness
a continuing education course for fitness pros who are tired of all the b.s.
Shame-Free Fitness is divided into 5 lessons:
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
- Defining what diet culture is and how it shows up in the fitness industry
- Discussing other related topics such as: weight stigma, fatphobia, anti-fat bias, Health at Every Size, and thin privilege.
- Recognizing how all of these components can contribute diet culture and other systems of oppression, disordered eating and exercise behaviors and why it's important that we are aware of these things as fitness professionals
Re-Defining "Health"
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
- Examining how and why you got into fitness on both a personal and professional level and how that has impacted your experience as a fit pro
- Understanding healthism and associating morality and elitism with a "healthy lifestyle"
- Addressing why you should consider shifting to a weight-neutral fitness lens to promote authentic health
Cues to Cancel
What is diet culture?
Navigating Tricky Convos
- Cues to eliminate from your teaching vocabulary that perpetuate shame
- Best practices on how to conduct a class or session that prioritizes consent reduces harm
- Ideas of cues, words, and phases you can use instead
Navigating Tricky Convos
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Navigating Tricky Convos
- How to respond if a client or member brings up topics such as: dieting, weight loss, burning calories, disordered eating, body image concerns, and more without contributing to diet culture
- Setting boundaries to uphold your values system and to protect other program participants from damaging diet talk
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Marketing w/o Manipulation
- How to market your health and fitness programs in a way that doesn't feel gross or manipulative
- Self-promotion of your programs and services without the sleaze-factor
- Can you sell fitness without fat loss? Can you promote wellness without weight loss? Sure you can! We'll discuss how.
What's Included:
- The 5 lessons are delivered via on-demand video course so you can watch them when it's convenient for you! Along with each video lesson, you'll receive a downloadable MP3 audio file of the lesson, a full transcript, and PDF copies of the presentation to refer back to when needed.
- After you finish 5 lessons, you'll take an open-book quiz on the course material. Upon completion of the quiz with a score of 80% of higher, you'll receive a Shame-Free Fitness Certificate of Participation for display and to use for CEC/CEUs
- You'll have access to complete the course and take the quiz for one year following the purchase date (...but I highly suggest doing it sooner so you can begin applying these principles ASAP!)
More Information
Contact me at info@shamefreefitness.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
It is my goal to be a continuing education provider with ACE by the spring of 2022, but that takes a little bit of time!
The good news is that as soon as I'm approved as a CEC provider, you'll be able to easily apply those credits to your personal training or group exercise certifications, even if you participate in the course now.
In the interim, while I'm awaiting CEC approval, you will receive a certificate of completion after taking the quiz that you can use to submit and petition your certification provider for credits. If you need any help with this, I'm happy to help you with this process!
This course will give you approximately 4 CECs/CEUs depending on your certification provider!
You can register by clicking here!
The cost for this course is currently $59.
Once I receive CEC approval, the price will increase so now is a great opportunity to enroll at a lower cost!
Nope! Although the focus of this course is geared towards group fitness instructors, personal trainers, and gym managers as this is my professional background, others such as: exercise enthusiasts, physical therapists, health coaches, occupational therapists, health educators, and more would find value here. If you have any questions whether or not this is the right place for you, feel free to email me and we can chat.
This photo came from Body Liberation Stock Photos by Lindley Ashline. Lindley's service offers a variety of amazing photos that reflect diverse bodies participating in life (including exercise!). To see more of Lindley's work and to purchase photos, click here.
Drawing from over a decade in the fitness industry, I’m dedicated to helping other fit pros serve their clients, participants, and members in a genuine, values-driven way.
I have a Master's Degree in Health Education & Promotion from East Carolina University and my past experiences include:
- instructing a variety of group exercise and aquatic fitness classes since 2007 (I still teach a few classes each week and love it!)
- personal training both in-person and virtually
- recruiting, training, supervising, mentoring, and leading teams of group fitness instructors and personal trainers for 10 years
- supporting wellness and membership efforts for the YMCA of Western North Carolina from 2011-2018 by serving in many leadership roles (Group Exercise Coordinator, Healthy Living Director, Senior Membership and Healthy Living Director) where I had the opportunity facilitate national YMCA of the USA health and fitness certifications for local and regional staff, and become involved in local health equity collaboration efforts. My work also included: program development, special event coordination, fundraising, and collaborating to produce multiple large-scale member engagement initiatives.
In addition to that, I’m a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. Intuitive Eating is an anti-diet, self-care wellness framework that integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought. Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model that is aligned with Health at Every Size. The goal of Intuitive Eating is not weight loss, but is, instead, doing the inner work to shift your beliefs & behaviors to cultivate a more satisfying relationship with food and your body.
It's important for me to be transparent about my personal and business values so that we can both feel great about making this investment with our time, money, and energy. I believe that a person's size or weight does not determine their value and that all people deserve fair and nondiscriminatory access to services and healthcare. Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights as are disability rights, and no human is illegal. We will address how these areas intersect with disengaging from diet culture within this course.
I am not an expert nor do I have lived experience in many of these areas and am always learning and unlearning, just like you. Shame-Free Fitness isn't a place to expect perfection and knowing all the answers; instead it's an opportunity for all of us to share a brave space and to change the fitness industry together.
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