What has your gym experience been?
logg1e
Posts: 1,208 Member
Encouraged by the success stories of other people on this website, I joined a gym in my second month of losing weight. I joined to use the free weights, but have actually tried out lots of classes and found that I love Step and BodyBalance.
On here I read a lot about other women's mixed experience of the gym and some disparaging comments about the choices other women make at the gym. Got me wondering what your experience has been.
I have been really happy at my gym:
Welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly staff who listen to me and respect my goals.
Women using the weights section, men joining the Step classes etc.
A discreet area for more shy people and it's not labelled "women only".
The only bit I haven't appreciated is the huge screen showing a music channel. Depressing reminder of the sexualisation of female singers and general objectification of women in music videos.
On here I read a lot about other women's mixed experience of the gym and some disparaging comments about the choices other women make at the gym. Got me wondering what your experience has been.
I have been really happy at my gym:
Welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly staff who listen to me and respect my goals.
Women using the weights section, men joining the Step classes etc.
A discreet area for more shy people and it's not labelled "women only".
The only bit I haven't appreciated is the huge screen showing a music channel. Depressing reminder of the sexualisation of female singers and general objectification of women in music videos.
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Replies
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I haven't been brave enough to join a gym yet. Until that time my gym is my living room. I get a lovely pre-workout in when I shift everything around so I have enough room.0
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Out of interest Kalici, what factors put you off?0
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Well, I'm introverted and shy on top of it. I'm not sure I'd deal well with people expressing some of the macho ideas that float around in their heads. Especially as I'd mostly be interested in joining a gym for the weights (I am very interested in lifting heavy).0
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After some thought I decided that my post might seem unnecessarily judgey and harsh without some context. So, onto the context! For cardio I tend to do Zumba and because I do not want to inflict bodily damage on the innocent public at large, I do that in my house. The area I live in is quiet and there isn't much around. There is one gym in my area that has the type of weights that I would be looking for. Quite often I am outside next to this gym and I have seen how they treat the women who go there and on occasion myself. I don't think I'd ever be able to relax because of it.0
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That's a shame (although I can definitely picture it). I find the gym here a really good mix of people, all sorts of ages and sizes and as I said a mix of the sexes taking part in everything. It doesn't reflect the attitudes on here disparaging women's choices of gym activity, at least not in my hearing.0
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Although I've been frustrated with my gym (more because of issues with cleanliness and upkeep of machines), i will say that overall, I appreciate that activities at my gym haven't broken completely along gender lines too often. There are plenty of women in the free weights section who lift substantial amounts of weight, and plenty of men (and diversity of body types) in yoga classes, for example. My biggest gripe along these lines have been with the class instructors whose motivation is very focused on body image (i.e., "swimsuit season is just around the corner!") and, more specifically, focused on female body image (despite sizable proportions of men in the class). I had been a regular attendee at PiYo classes and stopped because of this.0
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That's interesting too Philly, as I recently noticed the lack of reference our instructors make to goals. No mention of weight-loss or bulking or slimming or toning... I think there's one Spin instructor who often says something like, "we're back in the fat burning zone now..." but that's it.
Makes me love my gym even more.
Apart from the bloody pornographic music videos.0 -
Update: I joined a new gym. It is a bit more expensive, but considering I've made it there every day I've been in town except for one it seems to be worth the investment. So far, so good. There are people everywhere, doing everything; I felt comfortable going over to the side of the gym where most of the free weights live and working out there. (It's not a huge bodybuilding gym, so maybe that helps). There have been a diversity of people in all the classes I've gone to. And, so far, the motivation in spin classes has been about "making change happen" and "reaching your goals." I suppose those goals could be to lose fat, gain muscle, gain endurance, slay anxiety, etc.0
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Sounds great Philly!
Good point that not all gyms are created equal. My own gym experience continues to be very positive.0
