My ex was a personal trainer and you are right in that they are their own walking advertisements. They are also in a lot of cases self employed.

That said, one of the large gym chains does have quite a diverse range of shapes, sizes and ages of trainers. If you think about it, being approachable and not intimidating or scaring off the potential clients is also a useful marketing plan.

Isn't there a personal trainer in Australia who has decided to put on weight and become chubby so that he could see what it was like to try and lose weight, and get a better understanding of the issues? And to make his clients feel comfortable and not feel self conscious about their weight.

We should also remember that some of the best coaches in the world are total cr*p at the sport they are coaching. And vice-versa vis-a-vis players becoming coaches.

As long as the trainer wasn't woolfing down an upsized big mac, sitting in an lazy-boy chair whilst yelling at everyone, "pain is their friend", I'd say all sizes are a goer, if they can lead the way.

A friend of mine is a somewhat plus sized tri coach, and is really doing well marketing herself to newer athletes. As Geoff says, a lot of us would much rather work with someone we feel comfortable with. I'm more likely to trust a trainer who doesn't seem to judge me, and who doesn't suggest I live on 1000 calories of egg white per day!

The gym I go to has several slightly chunky instructors. Doesn't phase me in the slightest because I am sure that they're probably five times as fit as I am and could exercise me into a heart attack fairly easily.

At the bikram yoga studio I go to, a couple of the instructors are fairly big. I think this makes the class seem much more accessible to everyone - and the postures, even though they're often really hard and crazy, seem more achievable when you see that a person who is bigger than average can do them, and even excel at them. Also, the fact that there are people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities in the class makes it harder to make any excuses like "Everyone will look at me..." "I'm too fat and useless to be here..." and all the other things our heads tell us. I guess it's just difficult to break out of that "appearance is vital" way of looking at ourselves and other people - but it wastes so much energy! And it's boring.

As a PE teacher I can speak from experience that one does not have to excel in sport to be able to coach and teach effectively. I am sure that you would all maake superficial judgement of me that I am not capable of teaching physical education.

Shoelaces coming untied???? I learned in a school cross country in Intermediate School to do the laces in double knots as I lost time having to do mine up. It is fairly basic if you have that problem and takes two seconds during the tying process.

As for casualness at work, you should drop into a biology lab sometime, especially one in a medical school. Here without exception the lab heads at the research unit up at the hospital here wear jeans and a t-shirt and often neither look particularly reputable. That includes the women too. However down the hill at the campus proper the sartorial level rises, slightly though generally at the bohemian end of the scale, especially the women. This is because we have to make it clear that we are NOT clinicians despite the fact we also wear white coats. In places where the two are in close proximity the difference becomes most stark. Though during my PhD (Med School Dunedin) one of the lecturers who was medically qualified joined us slobs since he no longer practiced.

One of the joys of science is not having to wear a tie, ever. Not even at conferences. Mind you I am something of a dandy in science terms since I habitually wear chinos and a shirt to work. I do not even own a pair of jeans.

To echo Muscleguy #7. Double knots are your friend. Always do my shoes with them so save them coming adrift at inopportune moments.

Especially important for climbing or driving/motorsport shoes. Those inopportune moments could be quite dangerous.

@Muscleguy #7

I've a pair of running shoes that even with double knots has a habit of coming untied. Happens even more if they get wet.

Not sure if this is runners world subscriber only - but on the topic of shoelace tying, this guy has come up with supposedly the perfect way to tie your laces evenly so they don't wear out (I've never really had a problem with this - but hey): http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319--12997-2-1X2-3,00.html

I'm right with you on med school dressing muscleguy! It's awesome not having 'work clothes' and 'casual clothes'. I just have clothes. Fullstop. Whatever I have the urge to wear that day is what I wear (the only exception sometimes being footwear in the lab)