5 min readTHE FIRST TIME I saw Space Jam, I didn't even know that the late, great Richard Simmons was a real person (although most of the movie's adult viewers certainly did). But one thing his ever-so-brief, archival footage appearance—shouting “You’re doing it! You’re becoming mighty!” on video tape as a number of timeless Looney Tunes characters power-step along— did was set the idea of entertaining personal trainers in movies in my head from a very young age.
The tradition continues, now, with Men's Health's Spring 2026 cover star Charles Melton in the second season of Netflix's Beef. In the show, Melton plays Austin Davis, a former college football star content with his position as a part-time personal trainer at a local country club (where characters played by his costars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and Cailee Spaeny, all spend their time). Austin isn't just a trainer; He's well-meaning, funny, and honest, but also a layered, complex person beneath his washboard abs and ability to do a three-minute plank.
Melton's Austin is unbelievably watchable, and instantly one of the most interesting takes on a fictional personal trainer. But he's hardly novel—through the years, we've seen tons of incredibly memorable, entertaining, and otherwise fantastic fictional trainers on the big and small screen. Below, we get into a few of our favorites.
Brad Pitt as Chad Feldheimer in Burn After Reading (2008)
While Pitt is known best for his leading turns in movies like F1, Troy, and Moneyball, he's deceptively at his best when he gets to be a little weird. That's never more true than in Joel and Ethan Coen's screwball dark comedy Burn After Reading, where he plays dim-witted trainer Chad Feldheimer. Chad is a sweet, pure-of-heart dummy who gets involved in a political blackmail situation that he never asked for. Between dancing with headphones in on the treadmill and trying his very best to be a cool guy others take seriously, this is some of Pitt's funniest work ever.
Mark Wahlberg as Daniel Lugo in Pain & Gain (2013)
Michael Bay's name is synonymous with large-scale, explosion-filled action movies—but he made one of his very best flicks when he shrunk things down a little bit. 2013's Pain & Gain follows Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), a Miami trainer and ex-con who, in his search for both money and personal fulfillment, gets involved in a wild (and deadly) criminal enterprise. Wahlberg, along with co-stars Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie have never been more jacked than they are in Pain & Gain—and all three are completely magnetic on screen. In case things aren't wild enough, the whole thing is based on a series of very real 1999 Miami New Times articles.
Christopher Meloni as Ray Whelans in Veep (2014)
There were a lot of very funny sitcoms in the 2010s, and there were a lot of very funny guest stars on those shows. But, sometimes, you ran into a combination of role, star, and show that was perfect—and that's what happened when Christopher Meloni played Ray Whelans in HBO's Veep. Meloni is best known for his tough guy role on Law & Order: SVU (and its related spinoffs), but he's shown through the years that he’s a more-than-capable comedic force as well. He reached his guest star apex as Selina Meyer's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) confident but truly idiotic personal trainer, Ray.
Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill in Rocky (1976)
You can't have a list like this without including the guy who helped Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) become Rocky in the movie Rocky. And we won't! Meredith, a legendary character actor, was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in the movie, and will live on as long as Rocky does.
Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders as Trevor and Kat in Results (2015)
How about a deeper cut? You may not have heard of Results, a 2015 indie that rides the line between rom-com and dramedy. But its two main characters are played by actors we all love—Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders—as the kind of trainers you'd find at your local gym. They just also happen to have romantic history and a wealthy new asshole client who stirs everything up.
Joe Lo Truglio as Lonnie (aka Elmo) in I Love You, Man (2009)
If you're of a certain age—or have a certain comedic taste—you can probably hear the image above. Joe Lo Truglio isn't even in the Paul Rudd/Jason Segel bromance I Love You, Man, all that much, but his eager, excited, squeaky-voiced personal trainer is the kind of bit character you never forget. You will remember the phrase "Everything you got!" for the rest of your days.
Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984)
Cinema's most iconic trainer is pretty dissimilar from almost every other character on this list. This dude isn't telling Daniel-san to do pushups or burpees or crunches, and he's not yelling or barking at anyone either; instead, he's calm, laid back, and exudes a truly lasting presence. So lasting, in fact, that there's an entire series—Cobra Kai!—about what Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) are up to in the years following his passing. Morita was nominated for an Oscar for playing Mr. Miyagi, which really tells you how beloved this character and performance were.
Ben Stiller as White Goodman in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2005)
You can find Mr. Miyagi’s polar opposite in Ben Stiller's despicable and utterly hilarious Dodgeball villain White Goodman. As a gym owner/trainer, White is certainly a success—he's built GloboGym into a major brand through his own hard work and by relentlessly negging his customers. Stiller’s cartoonish, ridiculous performance makes him the perfect foil to Vince Vaughn's quiet, dry lead, and the mix is what makes Dodgeball one of the most rewatchable comedies of the 2000s.
Jason Segel as Jason in Knocked Up and This Is 40
Jason Segel plays the same character in both Knocked Up and This Is 40 (appropriately named "Jason,"). But it's only in This is 40 that we see his evolution from aspiring ladies man and frequent substance-taker to the trusted personal trainer of Leslie Mann's character, Debbie. And as with any and every Jason Segel character, he's very funny in an arrogant-but-somehow-still-likable Jason Segel kind of way.
Damon Wayans Jr. as Coach in New Girl
The history of Damon Wayans Jr. in New Girl as Coach is a fun one. He famously appeared in the show's pilot episode, but was then unable to appear beyond that due to his commitments as a series regular in Happy Endings. Wayans then returned to New Girl as a regular in seasons 3 and 4 after Happy Endings was canceled, fleshing out the fitness guru we only got a taste of in the first episode. And then he left the show again, only appearing here and there as a guest in the show’s final seasons. Through it all, though, we got 44 episodes of Coach in New Girl.
