Overweight personal trainers

There are several personal trainers at the university gym where I work out--most of which are grad students in either exercise physiology, athletic training, or physical education. One has the classic powerlifter physique, a couple are collegiate athletes who are built for their sport (basketball, football, and soccer), and then there's one somewhat older woman who is a bit hippy and "soft"-looking, but I know she can lift an impressive amount of weight, and barely breaks a sweat at top speed on the ergonometer.

Of the lot of them, I prefer to go to Ms. Hippy with my questions because her primary job is as an athletic trainer for a university football team-- designing workout plans that reach the individual athletes' goals and helping them work out when recovering from injuries without doing further damage.

Maybe I'm being somewhat prejudiced against the others, but I feel I can relate to her, and that she isn't going to judge ME because I'm overweight and out of shape as much as Mr Muscle or one of the collegiate athletes. I'm not saying I don't trust them, I just feel more comfortable with her than with them.

I've wondered this myself.

One of the trainers (she also is a group x teacher) at the gym where I intern is definitely a little bigger, but she does put together some good workouts! The trainer that I intern with said that a lot of the overweight women coming into the gym as first timers gravitate towards her because she's more approachable to them. I can totally see that. She's funny as heck as well

I think it depends on goals. When I have a question whether it be about training (studying to be a trainer) or my own workouts, I tend to ask the muscular-type trainers because my personal goal is muscle strength and endurance right now. So, if I were looking to train with someone, I'd pick the guy with the biggest muscles out there. As long as he is funny. And good looking. Ha!

I will be a personal trainer in the future and I will look different than a lot of the other female personal trainers.

I don't pay for a trainer. I just do my own research and craft my own nutrition and exercise plan. There may come a day that I plateu and hire one, but I am not there yet. But if I do, I will only hire someone that is cut and jacked. I will better trust you to get me to where I want to be if you have gotten yourself there first.

I don't think perceived appearance constitutes an overweight trainer nor does an overweight trainer equate to lack of knowledge in fitness. I remember being a bit "bigger" than I am now and was asked by the YMCA, numerous trainers/participants to run a class there. I was still under 25% BF which is pretty healthy.

If people see how hard you work, your ability to keep up, teach and of course in a room full of folks who have the desire to be fit, your appearance really doesn't really matter. Only pretentious, snobby folks want their trainers to be ripped.. when you go to a class or train with a person, you are there to be active, not critique what's going on in someone elses kitchen IMO

To be 100% honest and tell the the truth - even when it's an ugly truth - I'm going to say what I DO and not what I should do.

To me, if I'm going PAY you to coach me in how I workout and eat, I want to see that YOU are also able to do it. I think as a trainer you're also sort of selling yourself, you know? I feel like if even you can't do it, a certified trainer - than how the heck can I?

Fair? Maybe not. I realize that they may also be out of shape and still have the knowledge I need - but again, I'm being honest about what I actually do, not what I should do.

But I'm all about results based fitness.

I love the honesty. And feel the same way. I wouldn't go to a hair dresser with bad hair or dentist with bad teeth. Just being honest. :-/

I had a trainer who had excess weight in her gluteus maximus area. I wouldn't have cared but she was unprofessional, demeaning, and delusional (she told me she was underweight and had an hourglass body shape, where as she clearly was an over weight pear shape). Her personality is what really drove me away, not her body type. I think most people want a trainer who looks like they are excelling in their field. Now I have a almost scrawny trainer who is amazing. And another one who fits the stereotype but hes really nice and is good at pushing me yeah i have two trainers, I like getting nicely yelled at to go harder

My opinion has always been that appearance means nothing when I comes to trainers. My mom had one trainer that had the typical "male fitness model" physique and he told her the only way she could lose the fats was to do cardio. Obviously, he wasn't very knowledgeable. People like myself, who are overweight but have researched nutrition and fitness for two years still can know more that people who are just starting out or naturally look slim.

In my experience, someone can be a genius on a topic but not want that for themselves. Maybe there are great, knowledgeable trainers who are not fit looking but don't have a goal of that for themselves. Those who can't do teach!

Great thread. I'm going to give my honest opinion. At the gym I work out at, which is a well known Canadian chain, I see at least 4 -6 personal trainers on a weekly basis who are overweight. Getting a personal trainer isn't cheap. And if I'm going to pay good money to have someone coach me along, they'd better damn well be in good shape and practice what they preach. That's not to say that someone who is overweight can't be healthy. All I'm saying it, they are noticably overweight to the point where I've seen them stop on the flight of stairs to catch a breath. That doesn't make me want to book a session with them and I think they should set the correct example for their line of work. Every time I'm there, which is 4 days a week, I see the staff walking and eating bags of chips, nachos, pastas at the front desk. It's just discouraging. These people are supposed to be setting an example for fitness.

That's horrible... the bad eating that is. Totally agree with your statement

I don't have a personal trainers but all the ones I have seen on websites/gym advertisments always look really fit and in shape, so this made me wonder if there are any PTs out there that aren't fit and well proportioned. And would any of you use a PT that was obviously overweight/obese? And if not why not?

Then I had another thought, there seem to be a number of professional coaches who are overweight/obese, at least the ones that I have seen on tv - however that is quite a small number and prob mainly rugby orientated (I live in NZ) as I don't watch sport on tv so only catch it on the news occasionally.

If it is acceptable for coaches to be overweight is it ok for PTs to be overweight?

Food for thought....

Just because someone is overweight, it doesn't mean they aren't healthy or fit. Looks can be deceiving. Another thing, just because a personal trainer looks to be in shape, it doesn't mean they aren't overweight.

I disagree. Overweight people are not healthy or fit. Our perception of healthy has changed in the last generation.

I switched gyms in January and signed up for a personal training package. The trainer they assigned me was about 30 lb overweight. I was kind of shocked, but decided to give him a chance. The thing that made me get rid of him wasn't his weight.....it was his inability to listen to me and design a program based on my goals. I told him at our first meeting that I wanted to lift heavy and learn compound movements (deadlifts, squats, etc). EVERY session he would hand me these 5 lb weights and have me to 4 sets of 50 reps. I would remind him of my goals and he'd say "yeah, yeah, we'll work on that next time...." But it never happened. I'm sure he just put me on the "typical 47 year old plan" and never really cared what my goals were. I see him working with older women doing the same pink dumbbell, 50 rep stuff he had me doing. I realize I'm not his typical 47 year old client, but he obviously wasn't listenaing to me. I think part of his problem was that English was his second language.

All that to say..........I would have stuck with him if we actually were working towards my goals. His weight and physical condition weren't really a factor in my getting rid of him. His inability to listen to his client was.

If I'm booking a personal trainer, ideally I would like somebody who is both knowledgeable and practices what he/she preaches. If somebody can't be arsed to take care of his own body, then I have some doubt about trusting him/her with mine. It's not a deal breaker to me, but if there are two trainers with similar level of knowledge I would go with the fitter one.

My gym has personal trainers of all shapes and sizes. The more fit and ripped ones always seem to be with the fit and ripped looking clients. I mentioned military and was paired up with a fit and ripped one who was very familiar with military pt standards and what is expected of me. First time I almost puked at a gym. It was awesome.

Now that being said, my personal preference would not be for these out of shape looking ones. As a personal trainer I expect you to have higher standards when it comes to fitness and diet. You should be very encouraging and have a positive attitude no matter how poorly I'm doing. If I'm looking to get my fitness to the next level I want somebody who looks like they're already there, not somebody who just read about it. I don't care if it's a male or female, as long as I feel they're pushing me where I need to go. But how can somebody who's never done it themselves tell you what you need? They just know theory, not real world. Theory is great, but I'm paying good money and want somebody who studied theory and put it to work for them.

I was interested in becoming a personal trainer as a part time job. I believe it's something I'll enjoy, plus the studies will help me maximize my potential too. However I still need to lose a bit more bodyfat before I think I will. I just know how these people are judged. It's not that the overweight ones are bad people, it's just the fit ones look that much more appealing. Put two side by side, one is ripped and has 7% bodyfat, the other is obese with 32% bodyfat. What would you pick not knowing anything about them?

I don't have a personal trainers but all the ones I have seen on websites/gym advertisments always look really fit and in shape, so this made me wonder if there are any PTs out there that aren't fit and well proportioned. And would any of you use a PT that was obviously overweight/obese? And if not why not?

Then I had another thought, there seem to be a number of professional coaches who are overweight/obese, at least the ones that I have seen on tv - however that is quite a small number and prob mainly rugby orientated (I live in NZ) as I don't watch sport on tv so only catch it on the news occasionally.

If it is acceptable for coaches to be overweight is it ok for PTs to be overweight?

Food for thought....

Just because someone is overweight, it doesn't mean they aren't healthy or fit. Looks can be deceiving. Another thing, just because a personal trainer looks to be in shape, it doesn't mean they aren't overweight.

I disagree. Overweight people are not healthy or fit. Our perception of healthy has changed in the last generation.

Define overweight though... someone you think is "overweight" could just have extra skin.

I don't have a personal trainers but all the ones I have seen on websites/gym advertisments always look really fit and in shape, so this made me wonder if there are any PTs out there that aren't fit and well proportioned. And would any of you use a PT that was obviously overweight/obese? And if not why not?

Then I had another thought, there seem to be a number of professional coaches who are overweight/obese, at least the ones that I have seen on tv - however that is quite a small number and prob mainly rugby orientated (I live in NZ) as I don't watch sport on tv so only catch it on the news occasionally.

If it is acceptable for coaches to be overweight is it ok for PTs to be overweight?

Food for thought....

Just because someone is overweight, it doesn't mean they aren't healthy or fit. Looks can be deceiving. Another thing, just because a personal trainer looks to be in shape, it doesn't mean they aren't overweight.

I disagree. Overweight people are not healthy or fit. Our perception of healthy has changed in the last generation.

Define overweight though... someone you think is "overweight" could just have extra skin.

We all know the difference. Go to the mall on a Saturday afternoon and look at our teens. That isn't extra skin. I know some who have had WLS surgery. Im aware of that. What I mean is the typical overweight person. Its obvious. I will never agree they are healthy or fit is all I'm saying. Not based on charts or BMI but based on the fact they are busting out of their clothes overweight. With a LOT of extra tum.. Not a little pooch that the skinny girls think make them look fat. LOL We all know what is overweight when we see it. usually in the mirror LMBO