Overweight fitness instructors

cdoesthehula

Possibly not the same thing, but I once did a beginner's badminton class. This was before I put on my weight.

The instructor was overweight. She had a belly. She was in her late fifties.

I was paired up with a very fit young woman, and we played as a team against her on her own.

She slaughtered us.

Fit people don't have to be skinny.

VelveteenArabian

I just did classes two days in a row with a substitute instructor. She is a Latina with a "thick" body. Yesterday was supposed to be pilates, but she called it "core"; we were doing crunches and planks until we ached. Today, kickboxing, and she knocked us out. Also, certain ethnicities have heavier body types; does that mean we shouldn't train with them? A heavier body does not always mean an unfit one.

Crunches and planks *are* core exercises. She was right to call them that.

And seriously... you should maybe get some more exposure to more types of people. Your "logic" about "certain ethnicities" is incredibly misinformed.

I'm a chubby girl because I made bad food decisions, not because of my race.

kahulalui

No it wouldn't make a difference to me.

I have been exercising since childhood. I have taken some dance classes from instructors of all different sizes. For me it is about the class. I am one of the bigger dancers in my area but, I still can take an advanced dance class like someone who is a different size than myself.

That is the thing about some people just because you gained weight from not exercising doesn't mean that others trying to lose weight have done the same. Everyone's story is different. Honestly, I think my activity has save me from getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Diabetes. Plus, I agree with the comments about that they were a higher weight. Being that everyone is different not everyone ends up being "tight" after they completed their goal. I know even for myself I am not expecting this.

This is why I have shielded myself from going to gym workout classes. When I was lighter even I had this instructor peg me for being an inexperienced person with working out made a stupid comment. But, the smaller new people in class were told they should be fine. They couldn't even make it through 20 minutes. It is hard to get over it because I keep having the "well she is fat she must not know what she is doing" experience.

Size does not equal stamina or health. It is just a size.

rosebette

I just did classes two days in a row with a substitute instructor. She is a Latina with a "thick" body. Yesterday was supposed to be pilates, but she called it "core"; we were doing crunches and planks until we ached. Today, kickboxing, and she knocked us out. Also, certain ethnicities have heavier body types; does that mean we shouldn't train with them? A heavier body does not always mean an unfit one.

Crunches and planks *are* core exercises. She was right to call them that.

And seriously... you should maybe get some more exposure to more types of people. Your "logic" about "certain ethnicities" is incredibly misinformed.

I'm a chubby girl because I made bad food decisions, not because of my race.

I put "core" in quotes because the name of the class was originally pilates. I am aware that all of these things are core exercises.

I'm sorry I didn't intend any disrespect. These women (some women in the class, including the instructor)would be considered "overweight" but were also larger framed and "curvier." Does this mean they are that way because they have different body types or because they have bad eating habits? I have even seen posts from Latina women on this site post about the cultural differences in what is an appropriate body type (U.S. culture vs. Latin culture) for a woman. I was not trying to denigrate a certain ethnicity.

I teach a wide variety of students of diverse nationalities in my profession , and I would say different ethnicities often have different body types. For instance, I'm considered petite, but I teach Asian students my height who have wrists half the circumference of mine. Does that mean Asians are small because they eat less?

fairygirlpie9

Prior to this thread I certainly would've raised an eyebrow or two at the thought of a larger person teaching a class because the physique of my instructor has always had an influence on whether or not I regularly attended that class. However, this thread has caused me to realise that I shouldn't be so quick to judge and that I should look at how beneficial the class was to me as an individual and not the instructor.

jaylynporternxg

The only way I'm receiving fitness instruction from a hefty is if they are a powerlifter.

Squat, bench, dead: check ma form, bro. I need to get fatstrong.

missiontofitness

Nope.
My Zumba instructor isn't stick thin, but that girl can move like nobody's business. I like it because she has a similar body type to everyone else in the class, and can get us all worked up in a sweat, and keep up the workout for the entire 50 minutes. It really motivates me, because if she can do it, there's no reason I can't.


As long as you're teaching me the class well, you can be 90lbs or 900lbs for all I care.

LINIA

Summertime_Girl makes an excellent point!

Personally, it says to me that the trainers can't even get fit with their workouts. How do they expect participants to get fit? Nope, no overweight trainers.

GalHowYuhBadSo

I see a lot of overweight fitness instructors. I've seen more of that than actual fit instructors. To me fitness and nutrition should go hand in hand and I want an instructor who is health conscious in all areas, not just going to the gym. For me it's cool to be strong if that's your only goal but if I'm dedicating that much time to working out, I want to look like it. I want to feel and LOOK good. But everyone has different goals.

Dgydad

Can he/she do the job properly? If so, I'd have no issue and neither should you. If that's not the case, you are the one w/ the problem. Unless the job is nutirtion education, you need to move beyond your personal biases.................

Bry_Fitness70

What if these trainers have medical issues that prevent them from losing weight easily? PCOS, thyroid, etc? You never know what is going on in a person's life.

I despise these excuses. 'harder' does not equate at all with 'impossible'.

The myth of a flawed metabolism is such an enabling crutch. We take issues that affect a handful of people and imagine that they are plaguing all who are obese. In a vast majority of cases, weight issues are derived from eating too many calories.

Bry_Fitness70

If you are legendary coach, like those in pro sports, your physical condition is irrelevant. However, if you are a local personal trainer that is the business of dispensing advice on fitness and nutrition, I don't see how you can rationalize being overweight.

caterpillardreams

If this was asked a couple years ago, I would have said yes, it is a turn off to see an overweight instructor.

There is a female trainer at my gym who I would say is at least 50+ lbs overweight. I've done a couple of her spin classes though, and let me tell you, she is a machine! I know she's doing high resistance, and has lots of hill climbs & sprints thrown in and never sounds winded. I haven't worked with her one on one, but I think she does power lifting with her clients.

If I walked into a class now and the instructor was overweight, I might be a bit dubious, but I would give him/her a chance. They might really know their stuff and have a good fitness level. Maybe, like me, their diet just isn't where it should be. If I like the class and can push myself to get a good workout, how they look doesn't really matter. I've done other classes with "in shape" instructors and they were awful classes.

Same here an instructor I know is also a bit overweight but she has an amazing endurance. Its unbelievable. I may have judged before but now I know better. You may not know who you can learn from. So if someone else judges without first taking a chance and seeing for themselves they may miss out on something amazing.

_whatsherface

Depends on how overweight. People need to realize that bodies come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Not everyone is going to look like that "perfect" trainer you think they should and it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Are they educated in what they're doing? Do they give YOU a good work out? Do you enjoy the session, their personality, their drive? We have no idea what's going on in their lives. Where they are, or even where they came from. Whose to say that person didn't weight 300 lbs before and changed their life around and still has some weight to lose and wants to inspire others? I think it's fine to have over weight instructors. Give the gym some diversity and maybe help with the people who have body issues. I think an over weight instructor could probably pull out a lot more over weight people then a super fit one. Some people are easily intimidated. But really, I think it all boils down too did you feel like YOU got a good work out?

meerkat70

It's a fitness instructor, right? Not a fatloss instructor. If they're fit, and they know their subject, what does it matter if they're carrying extra weight?

azwen

That's true, I don't know if she's bulking up right now. But she's looked the same way for about a year that I've been working out at the gym. It's not really my business, but I was just answering the question honestly. After seeing lots of "fit-looking" trainers, I was a little surprised that she didn't fit that image, but then figured if she's being paid to be a trainer she must be qualified. My guess was that maybe she used to be even heavier, and was still working on losing weight. But you may be right, too, that she is bulking up.

Dgydad

Can he/she do the job properly? If so, I'd have no issue and neither should you. If that's not the case, you are the one w/ the problem. Unless the job is nutirtion education, you need to move beyond your personal biases.................

It's been brought to my attention that some folks found the above comment offensive. That was not my intent; and I apologize. The OP's statement, in my opinion, is suffused with a "soft" bigotry toward overweight people. I perceive it thusly b/c I have personally witnessed such bias on a number of occaisions. To me, the suggestion that a person is incapable of professional conduct because they are heavy is no less offensive than to suggest that a chef can't do "soul food" because they are white, or that a woman can't competently discuss the NFL because she can't be a player. I really don't know if that's what the OP intended, but it's the way it resonated with me, and that's what I was focusing on with my original statement.

trojan_bb

If you are legendary coach, like those in pro sports, your physical condition is irrelevant. However, if you are a local personal trainer that is the business of dispensing advice on fitness and nutrition, I don't see how you can rationalize being overweight.

exactly. I may get some flack for stating this on MFP, but being a normal weight is not difficult. It's not. Eating and basic discipline is not a fundamentally challenging thing. ESPECIALLY if you are already IN the gym for 4-12 hours a day. They can't workout for 1 hour and stop shoving food down and just be a normal weight? Looking like a fitness competitor is one thing, being non overweight is another.

If you have an impeccable client list, then by all means, look however you wish. But 99& of "trainers" have no real accomplished clients or transformations, minimal education. For those who are building their resume, how about just at least LOOK semi fit?

Business is business. Demonstrate your product prior to the sale or have a world class background. Every other industry gets this point.

Carnivor0us

Kinda like going to a dentist that has bad teeth? Maybe like asking a fat doctor about weight loss?

You live in a town with two dentists.
One has good teeth, the other has bad teeth. Which one do you go to?

Hahaha got beaten to the answer

llamajenn

If you are legendary coach, like those in pro sports, your physical condition is irrelevant. However, if you are a local personal trainer that is the business of dispensing advice on fitness and nutrition, I don't see how you can rationalize being overweight.

exactly. I may get some flack for stating this on MFP, but being a normal weight is not difficult. It's not. Eating and basic discipline is not a fundamentally challenging thing. ESPECIALLY if you are already IN the gym for 4-12 hours a day. They can't workout for 1 hour and stop shoving food down and just be a normal weight? Looking like a fitness competitor is one thing, being non overweight is another.

If you have an impeccable client list, then by all means, look however you wish. But 99& of "trainers" have no real accomplished clients or transformations, minimal education. For those who are building their resume, how about just at least LOOK semi fit?

Business is business. Demonstrate your product prior to the sale or have a world class background. Every other industry gets this point.

It definitely helps to "look the part." However, there is a difference between fitness instructor and trainer. Most fitness instructors I know don't do this full-time. They may only teach a few hours a week and otherwise lead a "regular" life. This is true for some trainers as well.