All of us a BPFA Headquarters are wishing you the best in the new year. To help kick things off right, here’s a list of some of our favorite books, blogs, and social media accounts from 2023.
-“Fit Nation: The Pains and Gains of America’s Exercise Obsession” By Natalia Petrzela. “How is it that Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, and yet also unhealthier? Fit Nation explains how we got here and imagines how we might create a more inclusive, stronger future.”
-“Fire in My Eyes” by Brad Snyder. “An American Warrior’s Journey from Being Blinded on the Battlefield to Gold Medal Victory.”
-“Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time” By Laura Khoudari. “Most people at one moment in their lives experience trauma. Lifting Heavy Things empowers its readers to use any form of exercise, from strength training to cycling or walking, as a tool of healing.”
-“Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek. “For a company to be successful, its leaders need to understand the true purpose of their organization, and use that purpose as a northstar not only in how they conduct themselves as a business, but also in how they care for those in their charge.”
-“The Long Run” By Matt Long. “New York City firefighter’s emotional and inspiring memoir of learning to run again after a debilitating accident, based on the wildly popular March 2009 piece in Runner’s World magazine.”
-“The Mental Impact of Sports Injury” By Carly McKay. “Using analogies from everyday life, The Mental Impact of Sports Injury bridges the gap between academic research and practical settings in an informative, yet easy to follow guide to the psychology of sports injury.”
Podcasts
-“The Dirtbag Diaries” – “The campfire tale—it’s ubiquitous in mountain culture. As long as we’ve climbed, skied, boated or traveled, we’ve been telling stories. In March of 2007, Fitz launched The Dirtbag Diaries, a grassroots podcast dedicated to the sometimes serious, often humorous stories from wild places. What began as a solitary experiment has evolved into collaboration between writers, photographers, artists and listeners to produce the type of stories that rarely find homes in the glossy pages of magazines.”
-“Handsome” By Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, Mae Martin. “Every week, the handsome hosts field a question from a friend and attempt to answer it together, covering every subject you could think of. Along the way, Tig, Fortune and Mae tell plenty of stories and just generally have a ridiculous time.”
-“Handy Ma’am Hotline” By Mercury Stardust. “Come hang out and get your DIY, trans life, and random questions answered on the Handy Ma’am Hotline!”
-“Recovery Bites” with Karin Lewis. “Join host Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS, for episodes featuring candid interviews with experts in eating disorder and mental health recovery. Episodes focus on life beyond recovery, the good and the not-so-good, the successes and the challenges, and the authentic accounts of recovered lives. Not their whole story…just bites!”
-“Re:Thinking” with Adam Grant. “Adam believes that great minds don’t think alike—they challenge each other to think differently. His weekly show explores new thoughts and new ways of thinking.”
-“This Morning Walk” with Alex Elle and Libby Delana. “This Morning Walk podcast invites you to experience the transformative power of a simple walk.”
-“Maintenance Phase” – “Every other Tuesday, Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon debunk the junk science behind health and wellness fads.”
-“Mind Your Fitness” with Thomas J Fowler. “Debunking the health & fitness industry.”
-“Rest is Resistance” byTricia Hersey. “From the founder and creator of The Nap Ministry, Rest Is Resistance is a battle cry, a guidebook, a map for a movement, and a field guide for the weary and hopeful.”
-“Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself” By Sabrina Ward Harrison. “We are all facing choices that define us. No choice, however messy, is without importance in the overall picture of our lives. We all at our own age have to claim something, even if it is only our own confusion. I am in the middle of growing up and into myself. This book is my life in progress.”
-“What Works” with Tara McMullin. “”Work” is broken. We’re overcommitted, underutilized, and out of whack. But it doesn’t have to be this way. What Works is a podcast about rethinking work, business, and leadership as we navigate the 21st-century economy.”
-“Without Fail” – “Candid conversations with people who have done hard things: what worked, what didn’t and why.”
Social Media Accounts
-@300poundsandrunning on IG
-@andreaanimates on IG. “Stop motion animator & fiber artist.”
-@barkcity_parker on TikToc. “Enjoy cute videos of our furry friends.”
-@lousydrawingsforgoodpeople on IG
-@crutches_and_spice on TikTok. Disability advocate.
-@strangewonderfulcreature on TicTok. Nonbinary circus athlete.
-@auntyskates on TicTok. 43 year-old woman learning to skateboard and is now a coach.
-@movementbydavid on TicTok. Fun scalable mobility training.
-@kiraonysko
-Javeno McLean @j7healthjaveno on IG
-Kaylee Bays @slayleebays on IG
-@case.kenny on IG
-@johannakulp.lcsw on IG. “Empowering parents to embrace a healthy body image & to teach their kids to do the same.”
with Samantha Montpetit-Huynh, CPTN-PT, PFS, NWS, Pfilates
Menopause has a LOT of stigma attached to it and many women feel like life is over. However, this is the perfect opportunity to start working WITH your body and stop fighting against it. Find out how menopause changes the playing field and how, as a professional, you must change the game.
Samantha (she/her) is the founder of SamCoreTrainer where she coaches women 40+ with the most comprehensive online health management program for women during menopause and midlife. Samantha is a serial entrepreneur, media expert, speaker, teacher, mentor, course creator and author. You can catch her fitness segments on The Marilyn Denis Show and most recently on CBC’s Then National.
Samantha has been a recognized expert in her field for 2 decades and was awarded The Abundance 2019 Personal Trainer of the Year and CanfitPro’s 2021, Specialty Presenter of the Year.
Creativity Moves You: Unlocking the creativity that Movement Brings
with Dr. Kate Herald Browne
Kate (she/her) explores the connection between physical movement and creativity as a full health practice in this workshop. We’ll play with ways to bring intentional moments of creativity to your movement space. No prior experience with arts and crafts required! Kate is a writer and educator who specializes in connecting personal storytelling to wellness practices and she’s excited to share new ideas with the BPFA community. She is a member of the BPFA Board.
The 2nd Annual BPFA 0.5K!
Walk, run, dance, or cheer folks on, this 0.5K is a celebration of joyful movement and embracing that all movement is valid, even when it’s bite-sized.
More Speakers to Be Announced Next Week! Stay Tuned… 😀
Business skills workshops led by industry trailblazers, body-positive fitness demos, and social time to network. Everything we do has hands-on components and action items so you are empowered to make concrete change right away!
Presentation and Movement Topics
“5 Ways FitPros Can Utilize Intuitive Eating with Clients” with Leah Tsui , MS, RDN, LDN
“Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex” With Authors Justice Williams and Damali Fraiser
“Friendly Competition: Creating a Fitness Enviroment that is Both Competitive and Welcoming” with Katie Feeley and Laura Vineyard
We’d love to work with you to create a mutually beneficial partnership. In exchange, we are providing various levels of exposure and access to a large and committed audience in the inclusive fitness community. Check out our 2023 Sponsorship Packet.
Our annual summit returns to York University in Tonronto, Ontario! May 19th – 21st, 2023, In-person and Online.
BPFA Inclusive FitPro Community Members are invited for a weekend of networking, education, fellowship, and fun in Toronto!
As in years past, we are filling the weekend with engaging workshops led by BPFA Professionals. We’re also planning to spend some time with our Canadian fitness friends for some hands-on inclusive fitness sessions, putting our inclusive coaching skills into practice.
There will be smaller breakout sessions with members of the BPFA fam on various topics throughout the weekend, as well as numerous opportunities to move and play.
We’re pumped to make 2023 our best Summit yet, and we can’t wait to see you there!
More details will be announced in the coming weeks, such as hotel room blocks and Summit pricing. (For reference, we’ll be in the same pricing ballpark as prior years.) A more detailed schedule of events for the weekend will hit this page in the coming months. But it’s safe to go ahead and save this date on your calendar, and plan to fly into Toronto Pearson Airport (Code YYZ) if you’re excited to hang with the BPFA crew!
BIG NEWS! We’re thrilled to announce our collaboration with the incredible kettlebell coach and community organizer, @Damali.Fraiser!! Her new program, Coaches Corner Xpress, is an online kettlebell teaching course for coaches and personal trainers who are kettlebell curious and want to ensure that they incorporate kettlebell skills into their coaching safely and for all bodies. Safety is a matter of efficiency and skill. This course will help you to guide people to use the kettlebell effectively and efficiently to reduce the likeliness of injury, pain, and discomfort. And always remember, kettlebells are for every BODY!
CCX is more than just a self-paced online program. You’re learning from one of the best coaches in the biz. Registering for this course also includes 6 months of access to group training sessions for coaches with Damali AND 6 months of access to BPFA Inclusive FitPros, our online learning community.
Your Instructor: Coach Damali is the owner of Lift Off Strength & Wellness (@liftoffstrength) in Brampton, Canada, and organizer of Kettlebells in Black (@kettlebells_in_black). Check out her extensive resume: Trauma Informed Weight Lifting (2022), DTS Level 1 (2021), Certified DV8 Kettlebell Instructor (2020), GGS Contributor, Certified Pre & Postnatal Coach, CPPC (2020), Precision Nutrition L1 Coach (2020), StrongFirst SFG II (2019), StrongFirst SFG I Recertification (2019), Flexible Steel Level 1 (2016), Qualified Poo Choi Kru of Muay Thai (2015), SFG 1 (2014), CSC National Champion (2014) +70kg.
Body positivity is a movement created by Black women to celebrate and advocate for marginalized bodies. (Learn more on this history from Briana Dominici’s article, “The Black History of the Body Positive Movement”) Over time, the term has reached a broader audience, which has simultaneously been a great source of healing for many while also diluting the original intent. At BPFA, we acknowledge that “Body Positivity” encompases a spectrum of meaning to each individual and that each individual’s personal privilege intersects and informs how they interact with the spectrum.
If you are here at our website scoping out courses, that tells us that you are interested in making the fitness industry a more inclusive and accessible place. We see BPFA’s role as being your empathetic guide to making your programming more welcoming to all bodies. If these are your first steps towards body positivity/body neutrality/fat liberation, you are welcome here, and our Onramp to Inclusive Fitness Practices Course will be an excellent primer for you. If you have been involved in this work for a while, some of the material here may be familiar, but we hope the action-oriented coaching tips we provide, along with our network of Fit2.0Pros, will be useful to you as well. If you are interested in diving further into this work with exceptional folks putting out great content, check out Fitness 4 All Bodies, Decolonizing Fitness, The Body Is Not an Apology, and The Fat Lip podcast, just to name a few!
So wherever you are currently on the spectrum of body positivity, BPFA is here to help you grow and point you towards the amazing community of people already out there doing this important work in the fitness industry. Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.
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