Pride & Power; Empowering with Fitness
Happy Pride Month from Team Power Legion! We wanted to use our platform to bring awareness to the importance of fitness within our LGBTQ2S+ community. We have highlighted below just a few topics that are impacted directly through exercise. At the bottom you will also find some pride-related resources for the LGBTQ community and allies alike (both local for Victoria, BC and globally).
Mental Health
Exercise can be a great tool to increase our quality of life and improving our mental health. Members of the LGBTQ community statistically experience higher rates of depression and anxiety than straight cis-gendered individuals. By making fitness more accessible to everyone we can work to improve the stigmas surrounding mental health and pride.
Body Composition
How our bodies look and function is directly affected by our composition (the percentages of bone, fat, muscle and water that make up the human body). With proper instruction and resources body recomposition can play a role in helping someone feel more comfortable in their own skin. Increasing muscle mass or embracing curves can help however, we would be biased if we don’t also mention the potential risks of body dysmorphia and potential eating disorders. Educating ourselves on proper techniques, receiving professional advice and gaining support can go a long way to ensure you are able to safely get to where you want to be.
Pre & Post Gender Affirming Surgery
Although often neglected, due to stigmas, participating in appropriate exercises for pre & post operative care can provide individuals with better recovery times, help with management of side-effects and so much more! We have listed a link below that goes into further depth, but if you or someone you know is considering a gender affirming surgery, make sure you are aware of the physical therapy that you/they can benefit from. It’s about time we talked more about the benefits of exercise in improving a safe and successful procedure!
https://fenwayhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/15b.-Physical-Therapy.pdf study evaluating physical therapy used for pre, intra, and post operative care. From the Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health a Program of Fenway Institute.
Hormone Therapy
Did you know exercise can be affected by hormone therapy and vice versa? It can be very beneficial to include specific training styles to improve your journey during hormone therapy. Although lacking in abundance of studies, there have been a few that demonstrate how exercise can be vital for those undergoing hormone therapy. “..physical activity may be used to mitigate undesirable aspects of hormone therapy such as weight gain, bloating, or changes in cholesterol levels (Rozga et al., 2020).”. This study looks specifically at overall health impacts of a few transgender men, it’s an interesting read we recommend.
Here is the link to "Nutrition and exercise as a ‘source of empowerment’: A narrative inquiry of transgender men": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000907
Inclusive Community
At Power Legion inclusivity & accessibility are core values of our company. We strive to continuously learn, and provide a safe space for our coaches and clients alike. By raising awareness of pride and its relation to fitness we continue our goal of breaking barriers and empowering others through fitness. Below we have listed a great resource that discusses a bit more about how creating an inclusive space is essential in fitness.
https://ourhealthyeg.ca/community-lgbtq2s-accessibility-report - Curious how to make your gym more accessible? Click here!
List of Resources to Check out!
https://sportinclusion.ca/resources/ - A collection of resources for Canadian sport specific resources
https://ourhealthyeg.ca/community-lgbtq2s-accessibility-report - Curious how to make your gym more accessible? Click here!
https://www.bonlook.ca/blogs/blog/a-list-of-lgbtqi2s-resources-across-canada - Canadian specific Resource List for LGBTQ+ community
https://egale.ca/. - News, Education & Inspiration regarding the LGBTQ community