Adding Weight to A Workout

For Some, Size Isn't A Measure of Fitness

The first time Adrian Rich showed up for one of Missy James's kickboxing classes, he had his doubts. The 30-something technology consultant took one look at the stocky instructor and wondered if she would be wasting his time.

"I remember thinking she should be thinner," Rich said.

Now a regular in James's Saturday morning class at the World Gym in Bowie, Rich says he judged too quickly.

"Whatever my original thoughts were, they soon gave way to admiration," he said. "I've been trying to keep up with Missy ever since."

James, who asked that her weight not be published but allowed that at 5 feet 1 inch tall, she exceeds healthy weight guidelines by some 50 pounds, is one of a subgroup of fitness professionals used to encountering skepticism because they are overweight. Fat can be a liability in many professions; in the fitness field, that goes double. For many gymgoers, it's hard enough coming to terms with your own body's limitations without having to worry about your instructor's.

"You can see it in their faces the first time they come to class," said James, 48, who also teaches cycling, Pilates, aerobics and weight training at several local gyms and is down 50 pounds from her heaviest. "People wonder what you'll be able to do."

Juli Presley, who at 5 feet 10 inches and 180 pounds qualifies as overweight on a widely used government index, can identify. She worries some may write her off as unfit before trying one of the 10 to 15 classes she teaches every week for Fitness First Health Clubs. Even though her classes fill with regulars, in at least one instance some gym members snickered about her size and questioned her credentials.

"I was very frustrated by that," said Presley, who has dieted on and off since she was a teen and has weighed as much as 254 pounds. "I would kill to be a size 16."

But sometimes, as Rich learned with James, size alone isn't a good measure of stamina or fitness ability. Health experts generally view physical fitness as having five key components:

· Cardiorespiratory endurance: the ability of the heart, lungs and circulatory system to supply fuel during exercise.

· Muscular strength.

· Muscular endurance.