Body Exchange provides a “safe haven” for plus-size clients

A gym in Canada has banned skinny women and men, only allowing plus-size women through its doors.

Body Exchange, located in Vancouver, provides gym facilities in what it calls a “safe haven” for overweight clients.

Louise Green, the gym’s founder and chief executive, says people are often too fearful to become active. She says there wasn’t a model that offered camaraderie.

The gym, which claims it is Canada’s only “fit camp and adventure company exclusive to a plus-size clientele”, screens potential clients over the phone.

If a candidate is not a true plus-size, they are refused membership.

Members are typically aged between 35 and 55 years, but some 18-year-olds and even 67-year-olds have been allowed into the gym, which was founded in 2008.

It offers various services such as personal training, boot camps and monthly “adventures” that involve hiking, cycling, running, boxing and other activities.

Given the popularity of female-only gyms in Australia, perhaps there is an unmet demand for gyms that cater to a larger or older customer base?