Do you have a "ladies only" section at your gym?

CateLouise

My gym has a womens only section that is more expensive then the normal gym. When i first signed up (i was like 17) i used the womens only section bc i was so embarressed by myself and also because my friend wanted to go there. But after about six months (also around the time i was no longer friends with my "gym buddy") i just did the classes so now i have a normal membership

now i mainly do classes because i lack the self motivation......but me and my new gym buddy will normally go once or twice a week to the gym to do some cardio and weights etc

i think the main thing was i didnt want to look like a retard trying to operate the machines haha =D

Matt_Wild

Its fine to cater for one group of people, but it misses the point. There are such thing as fat men that don't want to train in front of others due to their weights. There are more bulky muscled men that don't want youngsters getting in the way as they mess around on their phones instead of weights etc.

Its positive discrimination and IMO in this day and age, it should be discouraged. It increases segregation and stops people mixing and encourages people apart and the idea we should be kept apart in different groups. Which then causes problems outside in the communities. Encourage people together, not apart.

Smuterella

Mine does, my gym is nicknamed "the big gay disco gym" as it is mainly attended by hipsters - generally gay men in the blacklit techno-techno cardio room and nerd glasses wearing women in the classes. I don't go often, I prefer working out at home.

Smuterella

And please remember it isn't all about vanity - there may be religious reasons behind why a woman would want to exercise away from male eyes. Certainly in my part of London.

lacroyx

I think the Zumba class I go to every week at my YMCA is. 30+ girls and 1-3 guys. and of the 3 guys there, one of them started his college semester so it's really down to 2 at the moment. me and this 60 yr old gent. but I haven't been kicked out of it yet. maybe I just blend in really well

xSophia19

nope we dont in the gym i go to its not sectioned or anything, so men and women wounder all over the place..

i find it quite intimidating sometimes, like when im running on the running machine and theres a really reallly fit lad on the running machine next to me, who is running at like 20 miles an hour and thers me running at like 4 miles an hour :blushing: i have to get off the running machine and go on something different just soo i dont feel so out of place ha ha!

CaitlinFrost

I first joined Fernwood Fitness and it is an all female gym.
it has recently merged with health and Fitness World so we now have the option of working out where ever. but the female bit is still female only.
the upstairs gym is said to be for 'females and males who need to use the smaller weights.

Trixtabella

And please remember it isn't all about vanity - there may be religious reasons behind why a woman would want to exercise away from male eyes. Certainly in my part of London.

This is what I was about to say, many religions frown upon women exerscising in mixed groups, in fact I just read a chapter on this in my uni course.

There is a ladies gym in my gym its only a small room and doesn't have any free weights just machines. I do use it sometimes only because the main gym gets so full up.

BerryH

My regular branch doesn't, but the one near work does. I've never used it. Who doesn't work out harder when there's eye candy about!

rsmithy89

I like it when women lift free weights. It shows that they know what they are doing and I am really impressed! I also try my best to let them have their space and I dont look at them much (I am only human though).

I think a guys biggest fear is lifting around the guys who are generally bigger and more muscular. I am talking about the scrawny guys that struggle to bicep curl 5kg dumbells.

At my gym, these scrawny guys have found refuge in the body pump class. They are surrounded by women in there and can lift light weights to their heart's content until they have built up the strength and confidence to lift with the other men in the free weights area.

Question is... should I feel guilty wearing a singlet to the gym and flaunting it? :P

havingitall

There is one at my gym and I never step foot in it. They only have girly weights there

netchik

Uh, no! I don't care who's in the gym at the same time as me, as my focus is on me at the gym, no-one else.

Sorry ladies, but the suffragettes would be rolling in their graves for this. Equality is not to be taken lightly, and so I think Ladies only gyms/sections are as sad as "Gentlemen only" clubs.

SuperScrabbleGirl

Uh, no! I don't care who's in the gym at the same time as me, as my focus is on me at the gym, no-one else.

Sorry ladies, but the suffragettes would be rolling in their graves for this. Equality is not to be taken lightly, and so I think Ladies only gyms/sections are as sad as "Gentlemen only" clubs.

This.

It's taken me a while to get into this mentality, but I try and only focus on myself when I'm at the gym. There are a lot of judgey people wherever you go and if I give into my paranoia that other people are inwardly laughing at my pathetic intervals on the treadmill, then I'll never do anything.

Religious reasons are another thing entirely.

jessicasloan91

Mine does but it was very small, the equipment is crap and no one tends to use it.

I much prefer the more up to date machines in the main section and I like to be nosey and see what everyone else is doing haha makes the time go faster!

HopeytheHopester

Idon't go to the gym but personally I would love an all ladies area. it would be a place whereus owomen work out freely without feeling out of place next to the guys. The ladies only section is like a paradise at the gym for women. Are you with me? :smooched:

paulamarsden

im from the UK and go to Virgin Active, we have a ladies only section, i use it sometimes as it tends to be less busy than the main gym.

its always nice to know you can tuck yourself away if youre having a fat day.

the guys over at the free weights do like to stare when you walk out though.

BetterWithAge

My gym does, and it's really nice. At first, I used to think that it's kind of unfair. Like, yeah, sometimes we overweight women don't want to be out on the big floor with all the hot people. We like a little privacy so we can flop around and look dumb by ourselves. But it seemed unfair, because it's not only women who need the privacy. Aren't their guys who are large and out of shape who would like their own little domain to go work out in away from all the buff guys and hot girls?

Why is it only women who get their special place to work out? Do any of you guys feel like you woudn't mind having a "guys only" section at the gym?

My gym has a section for women only and I don't think it's unfair at all. I have seen some of the men checking out the women (and vice-versa) which can be unwelcome when trying to grunt out a few sets. Unfortunately, there aren't as many choices so I end up in the weight room with the men. I only use it when doing the prone jackknife on the Swiss ball as I have yet to find a graceful dismount (working on it).

FitSid

Its fine to cater for one group of people, but it misses the point. There are such thing as fat men that don't want to train in front of others due to their weights. There are more bulky muscled men that don't want youngsters getting in the way as they mess around on their phones instead of weights etc.

Its positive discrimination and IMO in this day and age, it should be discouraged. It increases segregation and stops people mixing and encourages people apart and the idea we should be kept apart in different groups. Which then causes problems outside in the communities. Encourage people together, not apart.

well said

rachaelh84

We do, I've never been inside of it. I find it motivating to work out around good looking guys. Plus, BF is my workout buddy lol.

dad106

My gym doesn't.. and I feel like if it did, then I would never use it.

I used to be scared of lifting on my own but being forced to interact with people who clearly know what they are doing made my experience and confidence level better in the long run.

GuruOnAMountain

the kind of guys who draw their eyes off you the minute you walk in as though you have no right to be there,

That sounds like your perception. Most guys that lift weights don't seem to have this mentality at all.

Nah, seriously. My classes take place in the hall beside the conditioning gym so while we're all standing around waiting to go in, we talk, and it is something that other women have experienced, too. The first time I went into the conditioning gym (on my gym induction 5 years ago), I walked in and everyone apart from a few guys stopped what they were doing and looked at me like, "what the hell is she doing in here?" So much so that the guy doing my induction actually apologised to me when we left and was like, "sorry about that....they're just not used to seeing women in there."

Another time in the cardio gym where the weights machines are I was doing bicep curls on one of the machines. Now, I wasn't lifting hugely heavy because it was my first time doing weights but I think I was lifting about 6kg and a guy walked by to go to the water fountain and said to his friend, "What's the point in her even being up here, lifting that small?"

Needless to say, I've never been back. I also have a friend who is really big and she decided to start lifting weights at the gym because she was too big at that point to run on the treadmill and she was wanting to change up a bit from always going on the bikes or the cross-trainer and she went in to the weight machines part of the gym and got laughed at by a guy who made a remark about her weight.

Yeah, not such a nice place to be at my gym. Hence why I just go to classes and now have my own weights at home.

Matt_Wild

So one idiot said something means that everyone thinks that? There is always exceptions to the rule. TBH most people worry about what people are thinking about THEM. In reality, no one is actually looking at you because they themselves are worried about what everyone thinks about themselves.

Dragonwolf

Uh, no! I don't care who's in the gym at the same time as me, as my focus is on me at the gym, no-one else.

Sorry ladies, but the suffragettes would be rolling in their graves for this. Equality is not to be taken lightly, and so I think Ladies only gyms/sections are as sad as "Gentlemen only" clubs.

Completely agreed. Hell, how many people would be up in arms if a gym had a posted "men only" section? The neo-feminists would be all over that gym, working to get it shut down.

Its positive discrimination and IMO in this day and age, it should be discouraged. It increases segregation and stops people mixing and encourages people apart and the idea we should be kept apart in different groups. Which then causes problems outside in the communities. Encourage people together, not apart.

This, too. I see complaints about discrimination all the time. There's even a comment in this thread about it being a "man's world". Hiding in a hole isn't going to change anything. Taking a stand and doing things despite the jerkwads that try to laugh at you is what makes change.

If more women start lifting and going to the gym right next to the men, then more women will be more willing to start lifting and going to the gym right next to the men, and the novelty of a woman being there will be gone.

(Religious reasons are a different beast, but in my experience, organizations that are based on one of the major religions are advertised as such, and so it's understood that they're going to run differently than a public/secular gym.)

Yanicka1

"Let's coddle women's insecurities instead of helping them break through it."

This is said by a fat guy who has been pinned by a 95 lb. bench press before. Just for some perspective before everyone gets all pissy at me.

LOL love it. I go to a gym near work that has no ladies section and even if it did, I would not go since I am doing heavy strenght training with the big boys.
The same company has a gym near my home also, and it had a ladies only section. I have to say that I live in a place with a high concentration of muslims so I understand a women that does not want to train with a scarf on her head....but if it is because she is insecure... well it really makes me sad.

TourThePast

"Let's coddle women's insecurities instead of helping them break through it."

This is said by a fat guy who has been pinned by a 95 lb. bench press before. Just for some perspective before everyone gets all pissy at me.

Too damn right, and I also agree with the posts about equality. I am proud to consider myself equal, and it cuts both ways.

I've learned a lot about form (and lack thereof) from the guys at my gym, we're all there for the same reason - to get fit and strong. I couldn't care less if someone of the opposite sex sees me looking fat or ugly or sweaty, any more than I care about a nurse seeing my naked chuff when I have my smear test. It's about place and context, and the gym is the place to look like you're working hard - what's to be embarrassed about that?

supergirl6

Yes, my gym has a women's only room, but I don't mind. The women's room has a much larger stretching/mat area that I like to use and they tend to have other "stuff" in there to use too, like medicine balls. The stretching area in the main room is hardly ever used.

The women's room isn't very big and I have noticed that the machines seem to be designed a little different than the ones in the main room. I don't know if they were designed with women in mind but I feel like the seats are at a better height (shorter) and the machines accomodate my chest area better. Some of the taller weight machines (like the lat pulldowns) in the main room I can't reach without asking for help because I'm too short while I'm able to reach their equivalents in the women's room just fine.

I started off working out in the women's room and I was comforted by the isolation when I was starting out. Some of the awesome women working out in there are quick to help too. The main room is HUGE and it tends to be noisier and busier so I don't see the same camaraderie between strangers.

Now I like using both rooms. They both have a lot of advantages and I'm becoming less scared of using the "scary" weights in the main room and I love the mat area in the women's room best. So it's cool either way.

yesthistime

The reasoning I've heard from a few gyms is that it is easier to provide this option than to monitor some of the questionable men that work out there and choose to gawk or interact inappropriately with female members. Sad, but real.

heathersmilez

I considered switching gyms (for a better deal, instead they were 2x the price) and the Good Life I visited just happened to be women's only. Since women's only seems to be for unconfident women, it was full older and heavy women - no one you'd like to emulate. Women are each others worst enemies when it comes to making fun of someone behind their back so those of you with false security because the men can't see, the men don't care but the women will turn up their nose are your baggy, ugly sweats.

TourThePast

The reasoning I've heard from a few gyms is that it is easier to provide this option than to monitor some of the questionable men that work out there and choose to gawk or interact inappropriately with female members. Sad, but real.

That's more of a reason to totally boycott an establishment with such a dodgy atmosphere, not a good reason for there to be a separate area for the women!

hbrittingham

My gym has no women's only section. I don't think I would work out in that section even if it was offered. At my heaviest, I didn't really notice anyone else when I was working out and even if I had noticed them, I've seen that the people that work out at my gym don't mock the members who might be overweight or out of shape. I also don't see many of the males gawking at the attractive females. It seems that most of us are in our own little worlds. The only person I really notice is my gym crush and if I worked out in a women's only section, I wouldn't see him. LOL