Decolonizing Fitness: Making Fitness Accessible for Everybody
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Fitness?
In mainstream fitness culture, the dominant messages that we are fed are about shrinking our bodies, chasing esthetic goals, and adhering to rigid, often exclusive, standards of what it means to be “fit.” In these environments, the focus is often prescriptive: there is narrow definition of how to “do it right” that doesn’t account for variation in individual bodies. What if fitness could be something different—something personalized, liberating, inclusive, and rooted in care rather than punishment? This is where the concept of decolonizing fitness comes in.
Defining Decolonized Fitness
To decolonize fitness means to challenge the dominant narratives around movement and wellness—many of which are rooted in colonial, white supremacist, and capitalist ideals. It means dismantling the idea that fitness is about a relationship with our bodies centred around control, dominance, and perfection. It means that we embrace fitness as a tool for learning about and appreciating our bodies, and for self-care, empowerment, and collective well-being. And it means reclaiming fitness as a way to reconnect with our bodies in a way that feels validating.
Ilya Parker, the founder of Decolonizing Fitness, has been at the forefront of this movement. As a Black trans-masculine personal trainer and physical therapist assistant, Parker advocates for a fitness culture that is trauma-informed, body-affirming, and accessible to all. Their work highlights how the fitness industry often marginalizes people based on race, gender, body size, ability, and socioeconomic status, and they provide alternative approaches to movement that centre care, agency, and sustainability.
How Fitness Has Been Colonized
Mainstream fitness practices have been shaped by colonial and capitalist systems that prioritize productivity, efficiency, and dominance over our bodies. This manifests in several ways and excludes so many people:
– Fatphobia and Diet Culture: The pressure to exercise for the sole purpose of weight loss reinforces harmful beauty standards and keeps the focus on manipulating our bodies to conform rather than truly embracing and accepting ourselves. This erases the joy of movement for movement’s sake and creates a harmful environment for those in bigger bodies.
– Ableism: Fitness spaces often cater to non-disabled individuals, failing to create inclusive environments for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
– Gender Norms: Many fitness programs reinforce binary ideas of strength (masculine) vs. flexibility (feminine), limiting access to diverse forms of movement. Additionally many fitness professionals have not been educated about how to make their space or classes more inclusive and welcoming to transgender or gender non conforming individuals.
– Exclusivity: Expensive gym memberships, specialized equipment, and boutique fitness trends make movement inaccessible for many communities, particularly those that have been historically marginalized.
– Racism: If you do a Google image search of “fitness” or “yoga” what comes up? White bodies. Why? Because in our society whiteness is considered the norm, the default. This lack of representation, along with the lack of anti-racism education in the fitness industry, makes for an unsafe and potentially harmful experience for non-white people.
Steps Toward Decolonizing Fitness
If we as a community want to build a fitness culture that truly serves everyone, we need to start questioning, dismantling and reshaping the systems we participate in. Here are some ways to approach fitness through a decolonized lens:
1. Reclaim Movement as a Birthright – Movement isn’t just for elite athletes or those who fit a certain mold. It’s a fundamental part of being human. Decolonized fitness means recognizing that all bodies are meant to move in ways that feel good, not just in ways that look good.
2. Prioritize Joy and Function Over Appearance – Fitness should be about enhancing our quality of life, not conforming to unrealistic body ideals. It’s about feeling good not only in class, but as we move through life. Whether it’s dancing, walking, stretching, or strength training, movement should be about what feels nourishing rather than what burns the most calories or manipulate our bodies.
3. Make Space for All Bodies – Fitness professionals and enthusiasts alike must actively create spaces that welcome diverse identities. This means using inclusive language, offering modifications for different abilities, and challenging weight-biased practices.
4. Decenter Capitalism in Fitness – Not everyone can afford a gym membership or expensive gear, but movement should never be a luxury. Finding ways to promote accessible, community-based fitness—such as free outdoor workouts, sliding-scale class fees, or online resources—helps break down financial barriers.
5. Honor Ancestral and Non-Western Movement Practices – Many cultures have long traditions of movement that don’t fit into Westernized gym culture. Exploring and respecting these practices—whether it’s Indigenous running traditions, African dance, or martial arts—can help reclaim movement from colonial frameworks.
A Fitness Future That Honours All Bodies
Decolonizing fitness is about so much more than just exercise—it’s about reshaping our relationship with our bodies and each other. By questioning and challenging the systems that have historically excluded so many, we can create a movement culture that is rooted in care, justice, and liberation.
What does decolonized fitness look like to you? How do you challenge mainstream fitness norms in your own practice?