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It's not hard to pick out the personaltrainers at an industry event -- muscular, dressed in workout clothes eventhough they're in for full day of sitting, gallon jug of water in front of them(sitting can make one awfully thirsty!) and a protein bar pulled out andconsumed nearly every hour.

But this caricature of a trainer is notthe image we should be concerned with upholding. We should focus more on theimage we have back at our gyms and in our hometowns, rather than whether wefall in line with our industry peers. Our at-home image is the one that willmake or break our careers.

For instance, do you live the picture ofhealth in your home town? Do you eat in healthy restaurants and bring homemadehealthy foods to work? Do you dress professionally? Are you well groomed? Doyou go out often and consume a lot of alcohol? Do you eat clean, natural foodsor lots of processed foods in wrappers (protein bars included?) Do youparticipate in local health and fitness events -- just as you would have yourclients do?

In other words, do you practice what youpreach, consistently? Are you a visible role model of health? Are you a truefitness professional, from head to to... or just another personal trainer?