Ladies: All Female or Co-Ed Gym?

I preferred Fernwood over my Co-Ed gym. Essendon football players would come in and work out, which while being awesome to look at, would make me really self concious and avoid using equipment near them.

But I don't really like gyms. I prefer to just do my own walking/work out DVDs for free and at home.

I go to the gym on campus, which is obviously a co-ed gym. I've never had any problems with going to a co-ed gym, even though I am a weight lifting enthusiast. I do recognize that I'm one of the only females in the free weight sections, but I've never been too intimidated to do it. Yes, the guys there are a lot stronger than me, and a lot more fit than me, but I don't let that bother me. When I started working out, I was around 220 lbs, so that did make me worried that other people will judge me. As I said on several other threads to people who had a similar fear, I've never had anything bad said about me by a fit person, it was always the other overweight people. And, most times, they don't even say anything because they're in their own little world.

I go to a co-ed gym and I get SO MUCH support from the men there! The women are nice too, but the men I've met have been my biggest cheering squad at the gym.

I don't think I could go to an all female gym because I feel like I'd be more self conscious, but I've never tried one, so I couldn't say for sure.

I don't think it would matter to me one way or the other... I don't really see the point in going to an all-women gym though. Actually, I think if I joined an all-women gym that would be nice because not very many women use the free weight section so I would probably never have to wait for anything :-p

But anyway it doesn't matter to me as long as they have the equipment and services that I need.

I used to go to Fernwood (all girls gym) and more the most part I enjoyed it. No one bothers you or makes you feel out of place. Most girls, including myself, have their headphones in doing their own thing. Free-weights were aplenty but some of the machines were in the PT only area which was a little annoying. It's like we weren't trusted with them.

I've since cancelled my membership cause it wasn't worth the money for the amount of times I was going (which seemed to forever be getting less and less). Now I just do my own thing. Looking forward to daylight savings were I can start going to evening walks again

Co-ed all the way, show those boys what you're made of!

I like my co-ed gym. People of all ages, shapes, sizes. I do admit that the weight area is intimidating to me mostly because I have no clue what I am doing yet. I've only ever felt weirded out once or twice by a male member and never to the point I was scared to go alone. I've actually become good friends with a few men and women that work out at the same times as I do

I've mostly been a member of co-ed gyms, as that is all that was available in most places I've lived. I wasn't even aware that all-female gyms existed until a friend joined one once, and persuaded me to join. I remember thinking an all-female gym was pointless, but I actually found I really liked it. Mostly for sensory reasons - it smelt better and cleaner than co-ed gyms. Men working out tend to smell stronger than women. And it was more colourful - most gyms seem to be black and grey, but this gym had a lot of colours - pink, purple, turquoise. Stereotypical female colours, but still - I like colourful surroundings. I'm aware these reasons are superficial, but they made a huge difference to my experience of being at the gym. I was very comfortable there.

I think, too, I tend to feel a bit intimidated in gyms where there are huge muscly men doing enormous weights - I tend to avoid the area where that is happening, because that seems to be the heavyweight male area, and I feel I don't belong there! But in the all-female gym, although there were some strong women doing weights I wouldn't be able to do, it was a different vibe - it felt more normal, more something I could relate to, something I could potentially do myself once I got fitter. There were no areas where I felt I didn't belong, if that makes sense.

Im thinking of joining a gym soon and would not consider an all female gym .. most women in the gyms have the snotty, catty attitude .. whereas men dont give a *kitten* ... at least where I used to go that's how it was ...