Advocating for Strength at ALL Sizes, with Coach Damali Fraiser

Find Your Strong Podcast

What an episode! Another week, another dream guest!
This week we have Damali Fraiser, Kettlebell Instructor, Nutrition Coach, and Author passionate about exploring fitness from an intersectional lens. *
Damali talks about the time after her debilitating ACL injury, which effectively ended her Muay Thai career, when "that unstable, big ball of metal, helped me one breath at a time, one step at a time to really bring back stability into my body.. "
Together we go deep and don't shy away from difficult conversations.
We talked about:

1. Damali’s story and how she came to find the non-diet space and specifically the Kettlebell Community as she spoke about in the anthology: "Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex."
2. The racist roots of diet culture and how we as coaches can help dismantle diet culture as opposed to becoming part of the problem.
3. How it is so important to de-centre ourselves and be in community with people from diverse backgrounds.
4. Damali’s real love of kettlebells and how they are such a versatile piece of kit that can be used anywhere and everywhere.

Through our conversation Damali recommended the following books as key reads for learning about the racist roots of diet culture:
'Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex', Damali herself wrote chapter 11 on the body as a site of oppression and freedom.
'Fearing the Black Body,' by Sabina Strings, '
The Body Liberation Project' by Chrissy King and
'So You Want to Talk about Race' by Ijeoma Oluo, amongst many others.

If you'd like to contact Damali or work with her....Start your journey with Kettlebell Basics or join her weekly email series Kettlebell Curious

You can connect with Damali on her website liftoffstrength.ca, on Instagram @‌Damali.Fraiser, TikTok and on YouTube @‌liftoffstrength
Are you feeling stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle with your exercise routine, or as summer approaches, are you feeling self-conscious about wearing a swimsuit on the beach? Maybe you just want to stop worrying quite so much about your body.
Your body is not the problem. Reach out if you would like some support. We both have slots for Intuitive Eating Coaching spots coming up for a limited period only ,so get in touch.
And if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write me a short review. It would honestly mean the world to us. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Chapters

1. Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex (00:01:56)

2. How Damali found the Kettlebell Community (00:04:39)

3. Let's talk about Muay Thai (00:06:11)

4. Weight Bias in Competitive Sport (00:09:55)

5. Not Eliminating Joy (00:13:13)

6. Accepting our changing bodies (00:14:19)

7. Racist Roots of Diet Culture (00:16:09)

8. How fitness coaches can help dismantle diet culture (00:18:15)

9. Being an Advocate for Inclusive Fitness (00:20:09)

10. Coaches Corner Container (00:21:58)

11. Dismantling Toxic Fitness Culture (00:23:45)

12. Damali's Love of Kettlebells (00:27:01)

13. How to Get Started with Kettlebells (00:30:54)

14. How to work with Damali (00:34:12)