Your post serves an an indictment of mandatory boys' P.E. Yet how many guys are there in the sports crowd who object to this kind of mistreatment of nonathletic kids? The answer seems to be . . .
Congratulations on your weight loss! 
You may have more will power than I. If I didn't work with a personal trainer, I'd probably goof off! 
I've had a very positive health-club experience. Granted, I was a bit nervous when I went to the local 24 Hour Fitness for the first time. But I've had very supportive relationships with all of my personal trainers, even though I had a nonathletic background and they all were young former athletes. (I've had a succession of personal trainers because each one has had to make career changes for one reason or another. In other words, it had nothing to do with me.) I've encountered none of the machismo one would expect. My health club is like a second home to me. Two of them once asked me if I was a sports fan. When I said I wasn't, they weren't offended. In fact, I was (and currently am) a favorite client of each one of them.
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