Would you use an overweight personal trainer?

[runlift]

Just that really. Would love to be a personal trainer and I am very fit but still overweight. I imagine it would put most people off.

I wouldn’t want a PT who was overweight. Sorry.

Another no here too. I wasn't impressed when I went for my well woman check and the hugely overweight nurse told me I was too fat (11st at 5ft 8in).

I regularly do classes with an instructor who is not stick thin but she’s one of the best in the gym.

Yes but is she overweight?

I would. I’m conscious about my body post pregnancy. I would hope that they would be more sympathetic

I used to know a dietician who was obese. I couldn't understand how her clients could listen to her advice although I know dieticians don't only work with cases relating to weight.

I wouldn't if I didn't already know you, if I knew you and your story it may not make a difference if I knew you were good at your job.

I would happily do so - OP, if you have a look online at the intuitive fitness movement, you might get some inspiration.

It depends on what you mean by 'overweight'. Just a stone? Or several? It would put me off if the PT was considerably overweight. But then on the other hand,it would also put me off if he/she was very thin.
This reminds me actually,of something that happened many years ago,when I was about 10 years old,at primary school. At my school medical,I was deemed to be a 'little overweight' and was referred to a dietician at the health centre. My mum and I went along to the appointment. OMG the woman who was dishing out dietary advice should have actually listened to herself. She must have been about 20 stone. We came out fom the appointment with my DM saying to me 'Really? She expects us to take her seriously when she's the size of a house? Talk about not setting a very good example'.

My favourite yoga teacher was overweight. She was great, so kind and healthful. Really actually a teacher rather than a judgmental yoga bunny.

However, you'd have to market yourself right. And it does depend a lot on how you do it. I go to a run group and we joke that we are the old, unfit, fat and injured group. Non-judgmental, friendly, encouraging and non-competitive.

I'd be impressed if I saw you with a PT shirt on, showing how fit you are. Sprinting uphill, kind of thing. Stuff I can't do.

I used to know a dietician who was obese.

And I've known a couple I'd bet have eating disorders. Extremely thin and obsessed with food.

Nope

No, it's not about being 'thin' it's about being in condition.
If I was hiring a personal trainer I would need to have faith in their ability to provide me with some kind of aspirational 'lead by example ' philosophy.

Yes :)

Be like hiring a cleaner with a scruffy house

Depends what my goal was. If it was to lose weight then, no. If it was to learn to lift weights properly then yes. I do believe you can be fit and overweight but in all honesty the fittest people I know aren't overweight.

Personal trainer? Yes I would, totally. Plenty of larger people who are still fit and strong and could show me how to train, and more approachable from my perspective.

Dietician? Probably not. She would have to be slim, preferably having been fat previously!

As long as you could demonstrate the correct way to do the exercises i would absolutely use you.

I would feel much more comfortable than with someone who I thought would be likely to see me and then gossip to everyone about the jiggly sweaty mess they tried to help!

I am not overweight but I could easily see how someone who was could still be fitter than me in some aspects so it wouldn’t put me off.

No. I want someone who understands how to achieve and maintain lower body fat than an overweight person has. I would be more likely to use a personal trainer that has overcome being overweight or obese themselves though, who understands that fight.

Honestly it depends on what kind of overweight and what you look like.

There’s a male trainer at my gym who is an ex weightlifter and he is probably overweight medically but it’s clearly 90% muscle with a little layer of not-muscle over the top. Similarly there is a female trainer who is very curvy, she is short with huge thighs and bum so maybe overweight on a BMI scale but she’s like the Duracell bunny and again it’s clearly mostly muscle.

Someone very wobbly on the other hand... yes I would be put off as I would wonder how long you‘d been a PT for, it would suggest not long and/or you don’t do that much exercise yourself.

I personally would as knowledge and practice are different things, but everyone is different

I would feel much more comfortable than with someone who I thought would be likely to see me and then gossip to everyone about the jiggly sweaty mess they tried to help!

Do you think overweight people would never do that?

If you're a nasty, judgmental, unprofessional personal trainer, then your weight isn't going to change that.

I go to a bootcamp class and the person who does it is a bit chubby so to speak but incredibly fit. I never even thought about it, I heard the class was good and I joined.

Be like hiring a cleaner with a scruffy house

Isn't that usually the way?

BIL is a handyman. His cold tap in the bathroom has been off for ages and SIL hired a guy to put their tvs on the wall as they'd had the brackets ages.

Wrt the training, I wouldn't mind if it was part of a journey. Like the spin teacher who had a way to go but had come so far. My stop smoking advisor was an ex smoker on a vape. I don't vape, but I liked that she knew how I felt.

Absolutely it would not put me off.

My judgement would be whether you have the knowledge and expertise to help me to reach my own goals, not what you did with your own body!

As a pp said I would probably find you more approachable so long as you are visibly fit underneath the extra weight :)

I exercise to help keep myself healthy rather than for enjoyment! I also moderate what I eat for the same reasons.

If a PT was larger but fit and toned I’d have no problem with it at all.

I would want someone who looked as though diet and fitness were both important to them. I wouldn’t want to be trained by someone who cared about one and not the other.

Equally, I wouldn’t choose someone who felt that size 6 with rock hard abs was something to be aimed for!

Interesting question. I probably would because I feel they might understand more what it's like, rather than someone who, to me, on the face of it looks as if they are naturally slim and have no clue about what it means to be overweight (though I appreciate that's a massive generalisation).