Welcome to our learning hub! Here you’ll find all our courses as well as ways to join our interactive online community. Some of our courses are already approved for CEUs with NASM, and those that aren’t can be petitioned.
We have 3 categories of courses: Dive In, Wade In, and Dip a Toe In. If you’re ready to dive in, we recommend our longer or more intensive courses. These include our flagship CEU-approved Onramp to Inclusive Fitness, Damali Fraiser’s Kettlebell Corner XPress, and hopping into our online FitPro Community. If you’d rather take it a bit slower, Wade In with our Mini Courses. These shorter courses cover a range of more specific topics and serve as a great intro to inclusive fitness or supplement to your inclusive practice. And if you’re just looking to dip a toe into the inclusive fitness pond (excuse the extended metaphor), try our Express Courses. These are 45-60 minute adaptations of our live-learning webinars that address more detailed topics in the industry.
No matter where you are in your journey as a FitPro, we have something to meet your needs and your budget!
Dive In: In-Depth Courses and Interactive Community
OnRamp to Inclusive Fitness (CEUs)
If you’re ready to step forward into the inclusive fitness world, this is the course to get you there! Our flagship online course is filled with resources to understand body positive fitness and actionable steps to making your own practice more accessible and inclusive for all bodies.
This course is eligibile for CEUs through NASM. Click here to view and register for this course.
Coaches Corner XPress by Damali Fraiser (CEUs)
Start your journey to becoming an Inclusive Kettlebell Coach with the inimitable Damali Fraiser in Coaches Corner Xpress. CCX is an introductory online course for trainers, coaches, and fitness professionals who want to build confidence teaching kettlebells for all body types.
This course is eligible for CEUs through NASM. Click here to view and register for this course.
BPFA Inclusive FitPros - Online Learning Community
Connect today with a network of FitPros who are invested in making the fitness world more accessible and inclusive for all people. Sign up for a monthly membership with BPFA Inclusive FitPros by taking this brief introduction course (~20 minutes) to learn about our community values and then jump right in! In this group you’ll find resources, continuing education, and engaging conversation in a supportive environment.
Membership access is available on a sliding scale. Click here to view and register for this course.
Wade In: Short Courses on Specific Topics
Cultivating Anti-Racism
Led by BPFA Board Member Simone Samuels, you’ll study BPFA’s Eight Pillars through an anti-racist and intersectional lens. Learn actionable items that you can start using today to make your practice more inclusive to all people.
Navigating Eating Disorders
As FitPros, we often come across people who have complicated relationships with food. In this course, Registered Dietician and CSCS Amanda Tierney will help you confidently stay within your scope of practice while you navigate the detection, referral, and support of clients with eating disorders.
Peace for Personal Trainers
Personal Trainer and BFPA FitPro Becca Kirkpatrick guides exploration of your own practice as a Fitness Professional to help you build strategies to avoid and undo the damaging effects of chronic stress and instead create an enjoyable, sustainable, and nourishing career. A rare opportunity for coaches to think about caring for ourselves in addition to the people we serve.
Dip a Toe In: Quick, Actionable Courses
Best Practices for Working with Higher-Weight Clients and Marketing Weight-Neutral Fitness
BPFA Board Member Christine DeFilippis sat down with Speaker, Writer, Activist and Researcher, Ragen Chastain for a live learning seminar. As a leading voice in the body positivity and Health at Every Size (HAES) movements, Ragen brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. Far too often, the fitness industry perpetuates harmful myths and stereotypes about body size and health. Ragen debunks these myths and shares evidence-based research on weight, fitness, and health.
Supporting Industrial Athletes in Eating Disorder Recovery and Return to Work
Amanda Tierney, MS, CSCS, CEDS-S discusses her paper, “Relative Energy Deficiency in Occupational. Supporting Industrial Athletes in Eating Disorder Recovery and Return- to-Work”, co-authored by Jessica Barker, MPS, LADC.
Coaching Squats for All Body Types
Coaches Katie Feeley and Zach Stoughton return, this time to talk about Squats! Squats are among the most functional movements. We squat all the time in daily life – sitting on chairs, on the floor, when picking things up. Nearly everyone can benefit from learning to squat safely and correctly.
Your PCOS Client Is Not Ovary-Acting
A recording of Simone Samuels, B.A. (Hons.), J.D., B.C.L. discussing personal training considerations for people with PCOS. Simone is a Senior Advisor (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) at York University and a weight-neutral fitness professional based in Toronto, Canada. She is a Canfitpro Pro Trainer and a tireless advocate for making the fitness and wider world a more inclusive place.
Building Teams and Partnerships
Kate Herald Browne sits down for a conversation with Katie Jones and Luca Lyons, owners of Ascent Fitness in Tacoma, Washington. Katie and Luca share their insights and experience on building business partnerships, hiring and managing a team, and how their team culture supports a body positive fitness business. -The right time to build a team -How to work with a team -How to know if a business partnership is right for you -How to find body positive trainers -Establishing and maintaining team culture
Coaching Deadlift for All Body Types
Deadlifts can be super intimidating and are often associated with injury or back pain. The reality is that deadlifts are one of the fundamental movement patterns – they show up all the time in the gym and in everyday life! Nearly everyone can benefit from learning to deadlift safely and correctly.
In this session we went over:
- The fundamentals of good deadlift form
- How to make adjustments for different body types
- How to adjust to different ability levels
- Helpful cues for position and timing
Trauma Informed Coaching
Jess Brock-Pitts (she/her) MSW LCSW LCADC, ACE CPT/GFI, discusses Trauma Informed Coaching.
Meet your instructor:
I’m Jess Brock-Pitts, founder and owner of Enlighten Well LLC, and a gym class drop-out turned certified personal trainer & group fitness instructor. I took a non-traditional route to becoming a personal trainer. After working for years in the field of mental health as a clinical social worker, I decided to make a pivot into fitness, specializing in trauma informed & weight neutral movement. (@enlightenwell)
Organizing Accessible Events
A panel discussion about putting accessibility into practice in event planning, including action items to make your next event more accessible and approachable for all.
Led by BPFA Board Members Justice Williams, Simone Samuels, Katie Majewski Feeley, and Laura Vineyard.
Anti-Diet Fitness Tracking
Join BPFA fan-favorite Kate Herald Brown in talking about what it looks like to have goal-focused programming that doesn’t center dieting.
Handstands for All
Coach Emily Gercke introduces a framework for approaching hand balancing in your own practice or to assess a client. Discussion includes physical foundations and mental barriers to the handstand, safety considerations, and movement applications.
The Union Makes Us Strong
This session was led by Becca Kirkpatrick, a personal trainer and lifelong union geek. She is a little bit obsessed with drawing the connections between body power and organized collective power in our workplaces and communities. As a labor union activist, she initiated an ambitious union sports event that ran for 3 years. Then, as a PT working in a chain gym, she tried to help kickstart a union organizing drive for gym workers.
Now, through Big Bag Training and as a co-founder of We Got to Move training co-operative, Becca is itching to continue the conversation about the need for a union for the fitness industry. If you’re interested in resisting exploitation and reshaping our sector for the better – for workers and gym members – this session is one for you.
Ditch the Hierarchy: Strategies for Offering Layered Group Classes for All Abilities
Ivy Baron of Requisite Pilates explores some concrete strategies for moving beyond exclusivity in group fitness, Yoga, and Pilates classes.
Going Out On Your Own
Asher is an anticapitalist with no background in business who will shared their experience becoming a self-employed personal trainer. Topics of this workshop include starting and staying small, building and nourishing a professional network, incorporating a sliding scale and free offerings, and creating policies that center accessibility.
Click here to register for this course.
Empowering Your Marketing: 5 Strategies for Body-Neutral Lead Conversion
Finding the balance between your body-neutral mission and effective lead conversion can feel challenging. You’re not alone in this struggle. Many of us grapple with aligning our inclusive values with the marketing strategies available today. This webinar reveals how to leverage Facebook ads for targeted outreach, ensure your messaging consistently builds trust, capture lead information without intrusion, and automate lead nurturing with authenticity. Plus, we’ll cover how to align your online engagement with the in-person experience to maintain comfort and trust from the first click. Join us to transform your marketing into a force for positive, body-neutral engagement, making every aspect of your strategy deeply meaningful and aligned with core values. Your Instructor: Operating two women’s gyms in Maine, Stacy has transitioned from a professional designer to a fitness entrepreneur, leveraging her inclusive marketing approach for success.
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Quickstart Guide
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Visit the Blog
Community-based learning is our “thing,” and the blog is where it comes together in a longer form. People from in and around the fitness industry fill our blog with a range of topics all across the Full Health spectrum of physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. This is a great resource to learn more about body positive fitness as a whole, and see how other professionals are making waves across the ever-changing fitness landscape.
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