Losing weight is no easy feat, and it certainly doesn't help your goal when Fabio is right next to you at the gym flexing his six-pack in the mirror and grunting like a wild boar every time he does trap shrugs.
Fitness execs are finally recognizing this nuisance, however. In turn, they're stepping up and creating gyms that either ban skinny clients or dissuade them from coming if substantial weight loss isn't their goal, according to the New York Daily News.
In fact, Body Exchange in Vancouver only allows plus size women to join its facility. There, CEO Lois Green tells TheProvince.com, gym users can enjoy a "safe haven" free of anxiety and full of camaraderie.
While Body Exchange is strictly for plus size women, there are a number of American gyms that practice a more de facto brand of heft segregation. One of these is Downsize Fitness with locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Dallas. Owner Jason Burns tells the Daily News that while his gym doesn't ban slimmer clientele, it heavily encourages prospective members to use the gym only if they have serious weight loss goals in mind.
Buddha Body Yoga in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City takes a similar approach in screening clients, reports the Daily News. Like Downsize Fitness, they don't outright ban svelte patrons, but they make it abundantly clear at the door that a client's weight loss and comfort is the first priority, not their glamour.