A "skinny" lad who used to take fake sick notes to school every week get out of PE class is now a successful Personal Trainer (PT).
John Evans, originally from Aigburth, was “forever begging” his mum to be excused from sports lessons as during them he would be “ridiculed” and “emasculated” by other pupils.
The 39-year-old claims if he wasn’t being laughed at, he was maliciously being picked last for the five-a-side teams which “crushed” his self-confidence. The bullying wouldn’t stop when the final whistle of the football game blew, it continued through other lessons of the day and even during lunch.
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John, who has been in the fitness industry for more than a decade now, told the ECHO: “It was quite a turbulent time for me. I remember one particular moment when a boy hoisted me out of the pool and said to everyone ‘wouldn’t you just love to have a body like John Evans’ and it was because I was so skinny. He was quite athletic so it was totally humiliating. It made me very body conscious for the first time as well. I felt very weak and un-masculine. At that age, I never looked at my body like that before, I was still a kid in my eyes.”
While others excelled at football and rugby, John found himself leaning in his more creative side and taking up dance, music “and all things art”. After having won multiple competitions with The Vernon Johnson School of Dance, Allerton Road, John was featured in multiple local newspapers, including the ECHO, but at a cost.
The former Hugh Baird College student said: “My mum was really proud of me and would always get me in the local papers but I had to start saying to my mum to stop because it would cause me to get bullied more in school. It got so bad, I had a free pass which would let me skip the dinner queues so I could avoid being pushed and pulled.”
The trauma which John took into his adulthood with him is something he claims was “severe” so for him to be where he is today - assistant manager of Pure Gym Aintree - shows he is “living proof that things can get better”.
John initially thought the gym would be no different from PE class for him - homophobic, heterosexual male-dominated and masculine. Having moved into his own house, he wanted to feel more secure in his strength in the chance that anything bad would happen while living alone.
After two failed attempts at starting working out at a gym at the ages of 18 and 19, John was approached by a stranger - who he still thanks to this day - who took time out from his workout to show John how to use the equipment properly and effectively. Thanks to the stranger’s kindness and his personal experiences growing up, John is now being that stranger for many of the LGBTQ+ community.
The class Instructor and sports massage therapist said: “I still don’t know who that lad is and I probably never will but something just sparked inside me after that day. At first, I knew I needed to focus on myself but I also knew I wanted to help others in the future.
“Now, for me, empathy is absolutely key and in work, I present absolutely no smoke and mirrors. I think having an open dialect with fellow members of the community and letting them know things weren’t always this positive for me shows what can be done with the right mentor, role model, and knowledge in a fitness coach.
“Being a safe space where they can reach out to and deal with feelings they have carried for many years from a young age is often the start to gaining their confidence to actually even stepping foot in a gym or partaking in physical activity. I feel I am that bridge for clients who need it as it all starts with mindset.”
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