I am the woman in the freeweights section of the gym

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Replies

  • Excellent post! ♥
  • Bump
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I am a female lifter :) I started mid november and love it (and love cardio classes too). I squatted 175 lbs yesterday (I'm 5'8 131sh) so maybe I will be squatting comparable weights of the men soon :)
  • sailinjen
    sailinjen Posts: 103 Member
    LOVE LOVE this!!!! Hope all my friends read this!!!!! Thanks for the info....grabbing that book this week!!!!
  • Joreanasaurous
    Joreanasaurous Posts: 1,384 Member
    Love this! I am lucky enough where there are just as much women as men in the free weights. A fact I didn't even notice until I got over myself and started lifting.
  • Heather032190
    Heather032190 Posts: 138 Member
    Bump...love this and would like to keep it in mind.

    Thanks!
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Wow thanks everyone! My thread got stickied! How cool!

    I appreciate all the love for this! :heart: :heart: :heart:
  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
    bumpers
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    AWESOME POST! :flowerforyou: :drinker:
  • Thank you for posting this! I will say that my "fear" of doing free weights is not so much because mostly men are over there (I was in the Marines for 5 years!) but that I am the biggest klutz in the world and I can injure myself doing just about anything lol. I used my "intro" personal training session to have the guy show me some free weight exercises today and it was awesome, I feel like I got a GREAT workout whereas before the machines were not doing crap for me.
  • ToriTwinkle23
    ToriTwinkle23 Posts: 8 Member
    Love this. Thank you for posting. I am REALLY hesitant to go over there.....I need a good resource to read first so I know what I am doing! I didn't want to pay for a trainer. :)
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,375 Member
    Wow thanks everyone! My thread got stickied! How cool!

    I appreciate all the love for this! :heart: :heart: :heart:

    I just noticed that! Nice work, girl!
  • ingraha
    ingraha Posts: 99 Member
    I guess it depends on the gym. I have actually not found that there are a dearth of women. But I am mostly having experience with university weight rooms where there are many women athletes.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    I'm usually the only one as well. Minus the gaggle of girls squatting 20 lbs on the smith machine.


    Weight shaming? And how do you know that is only 20lbs?
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    I'm usually the only one as well. Minus the gaggle of girls squatting 20 lbs on the smith machine.


    Weight shaming? And how do you know that is only 20lbs?

    I'm going to guess by looking at the weights, or lack there of? I don't now about you but when I see a five pound plate and a five pound plate, I'm generally about to add that up.
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
    I approve of this message. Also:

    8. Enjoy the eye candy. Seriously, it's okay.
  • lacurandera1
    lacurandera1 Posts: 8,083 Member
    I approve of this message. Also:

    8. Enjoy the eye candy. Seriously, it's okay.

    :drinker:
  • There are quite a few women at my gym who do free weights too. Not as many as the guys, maybe like 25/75. The rest are on the treadmill, elliptical or stairmaster for HOURS! I won't judge someone for how they want to exercise but I personally would be so miserable if I did that :(
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Lifting free weights is the gold standard if you have body building aspirations but to lose weight and retain muscle and optimize bone health, there are many options.

    "The best exercise for your bones is the weight-bearing kind, which forces you to work against gravity. Some examples of weight-bearing exercises include weight training, walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. Examples of exercises that are not weight-bearing include swimming and bicycling.

    http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_Info/Bone/Bone_Health/Exercise/default.asp

    "VARIOUS TYPES OF RESISTANCES
    Resistance training can be accomplished
    with traditional free weights and
    dumbbells, weight machines, body weight,
    elastic tubing, medicine balls, or even
    common household products like milk jugs
    filled with sand or soup cans. The choice
    to incorporate a certain type of resistance
    depends on level of physical fitness, how
    familiar a person is with specific exercise
    movements, and individual goals. For
    example, low fit individuals can focus
    primarily on machine-based exercises as
    they have been regarded as safer to use
    compared to more complex free weight
    exercises. The incorporation of free weight
    movements can be performed as a person
    increases his or her muscular fitness."

    http://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/resistance-training.pdf
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
    The first time was awful I felt so intimidated it was truly ridiculous, so I had a word with myself....second time wasn't so bad. Now I couldn't care less :wink: