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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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:
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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