Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex: A Call to Action for Inclusive Fitness

Imagine a world where fitness is a liberatory practice, accessible to all bodies, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, size, or ability. This anthology, edited by Justice Roe Williams, Roc Rochon, and Lawrence Koval, brings together perspectives from QTBIPOC, fat, and disabled trainers, bodyworkers, and coaches to reimagine fitness for every body.

The Problem with the Fitness Industrial Complex

The Fitness Industrial Complex (FIC) upholds and reproduces systemic injustices, prioritizing the interests of coaches, gyms, and corporations over the well-being of marginalized communities. This complex has predetermined who gets to be “fit” and who doesn’t, excluding bodies that don’t conform to societal norms.

Bodies that are Black, Brown, queer, trans, poor, fat, and disabled are often denied access to fitness spaces, forced to navigate harmful and exclusive environments. The FIC perpetuates oppression, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and damaging internalized beliefs about our own and others’ bodies.

A New Vision for Fitness

Through personal stories and experiences, this anthology challenges the dominant narratives around health, fitness, and bodies. It presents a radical deconstruction of the FIC, unveiling the systems of oppression that have been hiding in plain sight.

The book explores ways to:

• Deconstruct internalized beliefs about health, fitness, and bodies
• Re-envision fitness as a practice for every body
• Expose the FIC’s role in upholding oppression
• Empower marginalized communities to reclaim movement as a vital practice
• Build inclusive spaces that welcome and work for all

By centering the experiences of QTBIPOC, fat, and disabled individuals, this anthology is an urgent call to action, urging readers to push back against the FIC and create a new model of joy, community care, and liberation.

Book Details:

Published by North Atlantic Books on May 2, 2023

Language: English

Format: Paperback, 240 pages

ISBN-10: 1623177278

ISBN-13: 978-1623177270

Join the movement towards inclusive fitness and start deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex today!