I'm so excited to share this conversation with Justice Williams and to reflect on how his world-leading work at Fitness for All Bodies can inform our renovation of Bristol Co-operative Gym as we make it more welcoming and adaptable to more people commonly excluded from gyms.
I found this conversation with Justice enormously moving and inspiring. His conception of fitness offers a completely different paradigm from what is commonly presented. He views gyms as one of many potential spaces for community building, and fitness as a tool for self-knowledge and reconnection to ourselves and each other.
Above all, it is a philosophy rooted in love, and in how much there is to gain from dismantling the Fitness Industrial Complex and opening it up to more bodies. By reproducing larger societal power dynamics, the conventional fitness industry robs diminishes us all by making us want, as Justice says, "something that is not a part of who we are". His vision of an alternative encourages us to acknowledge and recognise what has been taken, and work collectively to strengthen ourselves and our communities. The implications of this go far beyond getting fitter.
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Personal Trainers and Feudalism with Geraint Harvey of Western University
Running a Yoga Studio with a Social Purpose with Abi Nolan of Supply Yoga
Inclusivity Standards for the Fitness Industry with Laura McCafferty of Inclusive Wellness
The Lost History of Co-operative Gyms with Conor Heffernan of Physical Culture Study
Maintaining our Gym’s Unique Culture with Darren Faulkner of Primal Gym
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Designing for Different Needs with David Sully of Stride Fitness
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Learning from Global Training Traditions with Peter Hodkinson of Body Mind Fitness
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