I am the woman in the freeweights section of the gym

as124

I read this right before I went to the gym yesterday. I was unsure of what to do at first, but soon enough I was doing my own thing. Some guys may have stared, but it was probably because it took me a minute to fumble around with adjustments of my body. But it felt great!

getdancing2013

So far I've seen a good balance of girls in the free weights section at the Y - some days it's a lot of guys, though. I'm okay with the machines and even the dumbbells but I'm going to try to move up to the benches today, so I'm nervous. I have to take off my glasses, though, and I'm legally blind without them, so I guess I won't be able to see if someone's staring at me.

Of course, I probably also won't be able to see where to put the bar back, so hopefully I won't drop the bar on my head :laugh:

Thank you, ladies, for the inspiration. I want to get to the point of lifting heavy, but with so many old injuries I have to SLOWLY, very slowly work my way up so I don't cross the line of "wow that hurts...feels good" to the land of "wow, that hurts...oh man, kneecap's dislocated again" :laugh:

dispatchergurl

I prefer this side of the gym to the cardio side. It is so boring over there. It is easier for me being a personal trainer, but I hired one to teach me how to do it before I fell in love with it. She helped me feel like I belonged there just as much as anyone else. Do I get looks? Every single day I workout, I use them as motivation to do one more rep. I also wear head phones and do my own thing. I have only had a couple of comments, but most of the time the people there are happy for the change of scenery and to watch you do something maybe they haven't tried before. I did have an older man do box jumps after my three sets because he didnt' have the courage to do them until he watched me. That was a cool feeling.

honsi

I've been doing weights for about 9 weeks now and I'm usually the only woman in the weights area, certainly the only one that is there doing a full weights programme. And I'm definitely the oldest. Ive had two interesting reactions recently.Last week a young guy rushed over to help me take a 20 kg weight off the chest press, it got a bit awkward when his friend whispered to him that i didn't need his help so then we all pretended that he needed to use the weight and so he took it and stood with it for a while at his bench looking embarrassed. Im 40 in a few months so I realise to him I must look ancient. Lol. A couple of days ago I was using the leg press, my weight was 200 kg, and an older guy was watching me and when I was done he started telling me that he couldn't use that heavy a weight and you won't see many guys going it either. He said " you don't come to the gym and expect to see that " and he assumed I'd been doing weight's for a long time. He even asked me if I took anything , like "a pill" .lol.

L8dyJ

L8dyJ loves this!!! Feel free to add me for support

MvndvBevr

I LOVE this post SO much!!
I love to lift and IDGAF who is there...I pay my dues and I get free reign of the weight floor too!! I am often the only or one of very few women in this part of the gym...but I do not care!! Boy's don't scare me AT ALL. You'd be surprised how many me LOVE women who lift! They find it sexy. EMBRACE THE WEIGHTS LADIES!!!:blushing:

harphy

There is no need to be afraid of guys in the free weight section. They are suprisingly cool; you sure will get a glance or two (especially at squating!) but if you mind your business they are going to leave you alone. I didn't have a bad experience so far, though it seems like I'm the only woman not just in this gym but in the whole country who dares to do the whole weightlifting program. Haven't seen another lady lifting in my entire gym career! Two days ago something funny happened. I was looking for a dumbbell at the gym for an exercise called the farmer's walk. The only "girly" looking dumbbell at the gym - in baby blue colour! - felt featherly light in my hands. I couldn't believe it's supposed to weight 4 kg. A guy tried to be helpful and passed me the other baby blue dumbbell. I answered politely: " It's NOT HEAVY ENOUGH for me!" What a shocked face this poor chap made! I think he later changed his mind seeing me doing a 75 kg deadlift...

_LISSAR

I love this!!

leaaa92

This was amazingly motivating! Thank you so much for your tips. :flowerforyou:

maxsmell

I mean this in the nicest way: as a guy in the freeweights section of the gym, nobody there really gives a crap that you are a woman in the freeweights section of the gym. It's mostly in your head.

pinkskulls21

get it girl!.... I just put my headphones on, and walk in there like I own the place. Did I have fear at first, yes! Then one day I was like "F" this, I belong here too. Now Im dropping weights just like the meatheads. ; )

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I mean this in the nicest way: as a guy in the freeweights section of the gym, nobody there really gives a crap that you are a woman in the freeweights section of the gym. It's mostly in your head.

Exactly why they need to read this thread.

been2boston

OP: Thank you; I want to be that woman, and your writing and recommendations will help!!!

treesponge

i need this motivation in my feed starting weight training in spring at school. been second guessing.

abadvat

Spot on post OP!

dizzmizliz

The more you go in the more you realise that its totally fine! I had a slightly awkard time last week when it was so busy and I was queueing for the squat rack, and a guy cut in front of me to ask the guy squatting if he was nearly done. The guy squatting said "erm that girl is waiting" and the rude guy kinda went "oh... are you waiting?". why yes I am! Then the guy squatting let me cut in on his sets, so all was good! I think at the moment I feel slightly self concious as I'm not lifting very heavy... but i'm improving each week!

SnatchPosse

I like this post and am always a fan of discussions about people adding lifting to their regimens. In addition to all the great advice others have given, I would also note that the dynamics can really vary from gym to gym. A lot of gyms will give you a free pass to check it out. For me, I found my Crossfit gym to be the best environment. Even when I'm the slowest one in a workout, all I ever get is support. Crossfit is by definition done as a group, so there's a lot of camaraderie. I realize Crossfit isn't for everyone and I'm sure not all Crossfit gyms (aka boxes) are so welcoming. But I think it's worth giving a try if you're gym shopping. The important thing if you decide to try Crossfit is to make sure you know what your limits are. People are incredibly encouraging, but if you know that last rep, or that higher weight could hurt you, don't do it. No one will think less of you. And if they do, it's because they're not working hard enough on their own workout.

ItsMeGee3

This post couldn't be more accurate! Kudos

crunchergirl

Great post. Thanks.

alereck

Great post, I agree with everything you said. My gym has a women's only section and I started there until I felt more confortable.

Just wanted to add one thing, I do not lift heavy - 15 lbs for arms / 50 lbs bench press - and you do not have to. Just do your thing, concentrate on technique and form. You are there for you and to see results not to worry about what is going on around you, and it turns out most of the men are there for themselves too.

If someone looks at your *kitten* while you squat it just means you are doing something right :-)

Chaskavitch

I go to Anytime Fitness, which is a pretty small gym, and there are a lot of women lifters in a huge age and overall fitness range. A lot of them are there for personal training sessions, but after they stop having one-on-one sessions, they generally continue to show up in the free weights section There are at least five girls training for a figure/physique competition. My sister and I maxed out on bench last week, and when we hit 145#, three different guys came over and were like "Wow, great job. You don't see girls benching with 45s on the bar very often." Most of the guys are actually really friendly and encouraging.

For all the girls who are afraid to do free weights because they don't have a spotter, just use dumbbells for your arm lifts. For squats you can use the power rack, and it will catch the bar if you fall, and for bench, use dumbbells. You won't be able to do as much total weight as you could do with a barbell, but it engages more stabilizer muscles, and no one will be mad at you if you drop one on the ground because it is too heavy. Way better than choking yourself until someone notices you need help

jrhanna84

Bumping!

cathyjones08

I was once told by a College Football Coach (a long time ago) that I didn't belong in the gym that I was in. I assumed he was just embarrassed that my friend and I were squatting more that some of his players.

As a little bit of a "go girl" empowerer, I have held onto that for a motivation for a lifetime of fitness.

gregallen549

Good post. As a dude I can tell you that I respect a woman who will walk into a weight room. If any man makes negative remarks, you can rest assured that he is suffering from low self esteem.

LeslieBell123

Thanks for the post, OP. After overcoming my initial fear of the weight area, I'm ok going in there now and doing my thing. But I am still a little afraid of asking for help when I'm in there. I want to squat more weight than I'm able to lift up and onto my shoulders, but I can't figure out how to get the bar up onto my shoulders without help. Should I just bite the bullet and ask one of the guys to help me? Or is there some easy way of doing this on my own? There must be a way that people with home gyms do it.

Ariadne83

Thanks for this, it's something I often think about but don't know any other gym go-ers so have just kept it to myself. I am too intimidated to go to the freeweights section. It is full of young men all hanging around flexing their muscles, chatting, laughing and lifting heavy weights (as you'd expect!). I just feel too random and awkward going there but I want to start using the equipment there eventually. I dislike the way I feel barred from the area even though there is no rule against me being there.

Right now I use the cable jungle, lat machine and some handheld weights plus all the weight machines as they are in the normal part of the gym so that gives me a good weight lifting session but it'd be nice to feel I can go to whichever part of the gym I want to. I will re-read your post and start to overcome the fear!

tmaryam

I love this. Even though I will probably never gain the courage to go there myself, I applaud and admire all the strong, beautiful women who do.

giftogab

great great post.

moya_rargh

I'm a small guy and years ago I was intimidated by the free weights section. I soon realised that everybody is generally zoned in on their own routine and felt at ease since.

Weights for all!

zmbc13

Thank you for the post! I would like to use free weights as well. I am going to find a trainer and surely look for the books.