Why do so many ladies not lift?

codsterlaing95

Am I making a generalization or is this a fact? When I go to my college gym, all I see is the females doing cardio. Do they not realize lifting (of course with diet) is what improves body composition? I see them doing the treadmill for hours on hours, while dudes lift heavy and push themselves with weight lifting. So is just how we are programmed/mankind?

ninerbuff

The same fear that it's always been......................lifting weights leads to muscular physiques. It's the same reason many males who are trying to gain don't do cardio...........they believe it eats muscle.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

arditarose

I don't know. I know plenty of women, at least in the online community, who lift.

cherrybomb333

@codsterlaing95 Speaking strictly from personal experience, it can be tough to find a partner to workout with you. It's easy to find someone to walk or do cardio with, but it's hard to find another female who wants to lift heavy. I like working out with a partner or in a group setting, and I have yet to convince one of my girlfriends to try lifting.

I've had great success lifting heavy in the past, and after some life setbacks, it's my first step to getting back into working out. It's given me the most consistent results and the most confidence in what I'm doing. I just wish more people were willing to give it a shot.

LBL1986

I think alot of women still think that lifting will result in them getting bulky. I've heard alot of women say that they avoid lifting because they don't want to get "big".

From my own experience, I was shy (and still am in many ways ) in the weight room because I had no clue what I was doing and felt very intimidated by all the equipment!

I think the mindset is changing though! I see alot more women in the weight room before.

arditarose

Honestly, I could ask the same question of men. Even the ones in the weight room.

savageman69

wish i could just wake up big like girls think it just happens

singingflutelady

Me too. I want all the muscles that lifting heavy isn't giving me lol

arditarose

singingflutelady wrote: »

Me too. I want all the muscles that lifting heavy isn't giving me lol

RoseTheWarrior

I think this is often a worry of the significant others of women. I know my hubby thinks I'm going to get bigger muscles than him LOL. My response... "you better lift too so you can stay ahead of me."

Willbenchforcupcakes

In my old commercial gym, there were definitely a lot of ladies who lifted. Not the majority by any means, and very few who would do any lower rep strength work. Since I never really talked to anyone I wouldn't know their own personal reasons.

In my current gym, you are either a strength athlete, either powerlifting or Olympic lifting, and therefore lifting is what you actually do, or you are a sports athlete doing your strength and conditioning work. Which means you lift as well. Even the very few general fitness people around lift at my gym.

joinn68

I have been to gyms and told the trainers I wanted to lift heavy but they always show me low weight high rep exercises. Even when I insist I get nowhere.

The other thing is finding "programs" that work. It is all so complex. I can pop in any exercise video and lift my cute purple dumbbells fine. But anything (heavy) weight lifting seems to come as a "program" with exercise descriptions that require deciphering, and that can be daunting. My current gym also doesn't have barbells so all the recommendations about SL and 5x5s don't do much for me. (I just discovered darebee with clear descriptions, pictures and no barbells!)

Other reason I don't lift is because although everybody says it "works", it doesn't show big calories burn numbers and since I am trying to lose weight mentally it is a bit of a block.

I do pick up dumbbells at the gym which most wouldn't consider "weight lifting" since it is probably not heavy enough(?) but even that is a lot more than women do at my gym. They are all about crunches and sit-ups!

AnvilHead

savageman69 wrote: »

wish i could just wake up big like girls think it just happens

Yep, if only it was that easy to just accidentally "get bulky"!

As to the OP, plenty of women lift in the gym I go to (commercial gym) - some lift more weight than I do. Some are overweight, some are very fit, but none of them are what would be considered "bulky".

TxLisa251

I'd be interested, but I have absolutely no clue where to start. I use the weight machines when I go to the gym, but using a barbell/weights just seems so foreign to me. I feel like I would need a lesson on proper form. If gyms offered an introduction to weights class, where you learned where to start and how to do sime basic lifts using proper techniques, I'd definitely try it.

misspancakes

I have been weight training for approx. 4 months now... My results in 4 months are better than my result in 4 years doing boring cardio.

Alatariel75

I'm not lifting YET... apart from time, my main reason is I just don't know where to start. I don't know anything about form, I don't want to hurt myself, I don't want to be the noob watching videos on their phone then trying the move... I'm just a bit chicken about it all, really.

Expatmommy79

I'm going to start in Jan... As pp said before.... Trying to eat at a deficit and not getting credit for lifting is a bit hard to swallow... An hour on the treadmill gains me 200-300 calories; whereas lifting for 45 min is uncertain... It's more of a mental block but I'm gonna do it anyway.

shelleysykeskeene

Loving the replies in this thread! I have been asking about weight lifting for women for a while now and got some really nice advice. I started lifting following some arb program I found on the internet but I actually need to get that NROL4W book.

My hubby suddenly started lifting again when he saw me lifting (ha ha RoseTheWarrior, so true) - probably also afraid I would get bigger muscles (as if) I wish it was as easy for women to gain muscle or tone as men do when they train! Its actually very, very difficult and takes a lot of commitment and hard work to get half the results that men do!

Also there is a lot of intimidation in the weight room at gym - men will often be quite condescending when they see a woman lifting - mostly because there are those barbies doing endless reps with super light weights (smacks palm on forehead)

Sued0nim

Because I never used to even consider it, never crossed my mind. Heavy lifting would have been for meatheads and steroid obsessed dudes ..wimmin do yoga and zumba and jog and maybe use a resistance band or the coloured dumbbells

Women's exercise is different cos we are women, right?

Only I've been lifting heavy since May 2014 and I'm in the best shape, at goal weight with a return to my pre-children figure ..even with injuries, which I am bizarrely rather proud of ..."got tendonitis, yup from lifting dude" *shakes head at self*

Actually who am I trying to kid...my figure is totally different from in my 20s...tighter, tauter and I'm more capable of doing the impossible

MelodyandBarbells

Assuming you mean lifting heavy, I feel my workouts are more fun, and have kept me consistently in the gym for ~7 years, plus I'm happy with my results. No need to jinx a good thing.

Also don't forget that women at a healthy weight are generally smaller than men at the same. Burning off excess calories may feel like a necessity for more women than men, if we want to consume a decent amount of calories

Sued0nim

Expatmommy79 wrote: »

I'm going to start in Jan... As pp said before.... Trying to eat at a deficit and not getting credit for lifting is a bit hard to swallow... An hour on the treadmill gains me 200-300 calories; whereas lifting for 45 min is uncertain... It's more of a mental block but I'm gonna do it anyway.

The credit you get from lifting may not come in extra food but it does come in smaller clothes and more confidence

Expatmommy79

rabbitjb wrote: »

Expatmommy79 wrote: »

I'm going to start in Jan... As pp said before.... Trying to eat at a deficit and not getting credit for lifting is a bit hard to swallow... An hour on the treadmill gains me 200-300 calories; whereas lifting for 45 min is uncertain... It's more of a mental block but I'm gonna do it anyway.

The credit you get from lifting may not come in extra food but it does come in smaller clothes and more confidence

I'll let you know if that's true after my first 12 weeks of 5x5

Lucille4444

I've started lifting a couple months ago, what definitely helps is having a set of weights at home so I can lift on my own schedule and not have to travel to a gym.

Karen_can_do_this

I also think that women may work out at a different time to men?
When I go to the gym after dropping the kids off at school - I have to wait for the other ladies to finish in the powercage before I get a turn. Some lift heavier than me. Others not so heavy. When I go after work - there's more men than women.
When I go at 4am there's 6 of us. Three ladies, three men.

hairycrabs21

I believe media plays a part as well as woman tend to fixate on a number on a scale. Since we were young we are told about the BMI scale which is a total weight. It doesn't separate muscle from water nor from fat. I believe if women were given a real gauge of fat to muscle ratio they'll all be running to the weights. Lean muscle is sexy not being skinny fat which is what excessive cardio does. I use my scale as a reference but my ultimate method to know if im on track is looking at myself in the mirror checking out those muscles. Plus lean muscle burns more calories meaning I can eat more and I love food.

LKArgh

codsterlaing95 wrote: »

Am I making a generalization or is this a fact? When I go to my college gym, all I see is the females doing cardio. Do they not realize lifting (of course with diet) is what improves body composition? I see them doing the treadmill for hours on hours, while dudes lift heavy and push themselves with weight lifting. So is just how we are programmed/mankind?

What improves body composition is exercising. Preferably with some resistance aspect in the exercise routine.
Most athletes and most amateur athletes who are consistent in their training, they look good. Not all of them lift. In fact, most of them do not. I have seen swimmers, runners, dancers, people into martial arts, all with great bodies, without really lifting. Not saying that there is something wrong with lifting, I go through lifting phases myself and I am a woman, but it is not the only way to look good. Unless your goal is to become a powerlifter, there is nothing special about lifting that makes it better than other exercise routines.
It all comes down to personal preference for most of us who are exercising for fun or health: if you like what you are doing, awesome, and it will work for you, if not, find something else. For me, I go through phases of lifting for a couple of years, then do something else, then come back to lifting. Lifting for e.g. 20 years non-stop, it is not something I could do, I just find it boring after a while, same as I do with more indoor training routines. I set some goals, reach them, then look for something else.

As for why men lift, to be honest, I think most of them do not. Even many of the ones in the weight room. They start with a weight that is naturally comfortable for them, which would be higher than for the average beginner woman usually, but they are not really challenging themselves. True, most men who are into fitness have lifted at some point, but I know more men who are consistently running or cycling or playing soccer for decades, than men who
are every week in the weight room for years in a row without breaks.

LKArgh

TxLisa251 wrote: »

I'd be interested, but I have absolutely no clue where to start. I use the weight machines when I go to the gym, but using a barbell/weights just seems so foreign to me. I feel like I would need a lesson on proper form. If gyms offered an introduction to weights class, where you learned where to start and how to do sime basic lifts using proper techniques, I'd definitely try it.

Men would benefit from this too. Half the men I see at the gym, especially young ones, I really have to make a point of not looking at them, cause I want to just go over there and start correcting them.

jemhh

I think that many just don't think about it or know very little about how to start and don't want to stick out by possibly doing something wrong at the gym. Machines are fairly easy to figure out--most have tiny diagrams on them showing what to do. Lifting free weights correctly takes a bit more forethought. I've read several coaches saying that the women they train tend to be very concerned with getting form right. My guess is that's as much for embarrassment prevention as it is for injury prevention.

I also agree it's partly about calorie burning. Many people go to the gym specifically to lose weight and cardio is better known for burning calories than is weightlifting.

Working2BLean

More women are at the gym every year it seems. They own all the fitness classes but are getting more into lifting.

It is interesting to see more women lift and work hard at exercises that used to be considers bulking exercises for men, but they still look very fit and feminine, not like men at all.

Maybe they are the best ambassadors for the value of resistance training. Do cardio, so some lifting, and looking great.

Wait a sec... That is my plan too! I guess I workout like a girl then. Ha Ha.

It is great to see myths of lifting fall away, even if it is happening slowly.

Qskim

Most comments I get from women who don't lift is that they lack the knowledge and therefore confidence. But some lack the understanding of the benefits too and yes, have misconceptions.

I think the message is starting to get out there. At least in my little world.

lisalsd1

My biggest hurdle was not knowing where to start with lifting. Once my husband introduced me to lifting, I haven't looked back.