Provider: ACE - American Council On Exercise
Type: Online Course
Included:
Online Content
Online Quiz
Recorded Video
CEC Credits: ACE 0.1 CECs

How to Create a More Inclusive and Size-Friendly Fitness Space

For many, the lack of body size diversity in traditional fitness—from gym marketing materials to workout classes and beyond—has led to feeling unwelcome or uncomfortable in fitness spaces. According to the World Obesity Federation, research indicates that fitness experts can often exhibit weight bias, negative beliefs about, or negative behaviors toward people in larger bodies. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Health and exercise professionals can play an essential role in creating exclusive spaces where all bodies are welcome.

In this video training co-hosted by ACE and SELF Magazine, you will learn from a panel of experts how you can play a significant role in helping combat weight bias and stigma in the health and fitness industry. The panelists will discuss what an inclusive fitness space looks like, best practices for working with clients who may have experienced weight bias, and much more. This dynamic conversation will equip you with the tools necessary to serve, understand and become an ally for people of all sizes.

Led by ACE Expert and Certified Personal Trainer, Jacque Crockford, DHSc and Editor in Chief of SELF Magazine, Leta Shy, this panel of experts will share insightful ways to ultimately market yourself as an inclusive health and exercise professional, grow your client base and become an agent of change in the industry. You’ll also hear from:

  • Tasha Edwards, MS, ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Certified Health Coach, founder of Hip Healthy Chick
  • Louise Green, ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor and author of “Big Fit Girl”
  • Christy Greenleaf, Ph.D., expert on the psychosocial aspects of weight, physical activity, body image and disordered eating
  • Chrissy King, Founder of The Body Liberation Project and wellness industry writer, speaker and educator

Upon completion, you will be able to:

  • Identify proper terminology, tone, exercises and modifications for more inclusive programs
  • Understand how to market yourself as an exercise professional or health coach who is inclusive and size-friendly
  • Recognize how to make your fitness space a welcoming place for people of all sizes
  • Communicate successfully with clients of all motivations, goals and body types

Reviews

Although the panel of experts are all knowledgeable in their fields this was a very frustrating video to watch. If you are going to talk about inclusivity then allow men on the panel. This was very one-sided. Yes, I know there are more women who have experienced this issue but it would have been nice to have a male perspective. Do men not experience weight bias too? All your pictures were of females and the the ones who were the topic of conversation had less clothes on than the thinner females, why? As someone who has been a trainer for over 25 years my intelligence was insulted by topics that were not addressed. The experts interviewed gave no practical application for how to address weight loss goals. They all said it should be up to the client on how to achieve weight loss. Is that what we are taught in the ACE Personal Trainer Manual? People come to me for a service and for my knowledge not for them to tell me how to do my job. I perform an initial evaluation on all my clients and we come up with realistic goals and then actions on how to reach those goals. Then every 6 weeks we do another evaluation to see if we are moving in a positive direction. If not, we change things up. Not once have I ever said to a client, "We will only do what you think is right." They are coming to ME for help. The experts also talked more about how gyms could address this issue than trainers or fitness instructors. For me to take an ethics course that was not practical this far into my career was a waste of my time. This is something that should be used in the certification courses or for a newly certified trainer not for someone who has been certified and practicing for 10 or more years. Please ACE, improve these types of courses.

The topic is very important but I found that the format of the video was not conducive to my visual learning style. I would have preferred more slides and bullet points of information rather than just chatting.

great course with a lot of great information