Intimidated by the men in the weight section of gym!
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The secret is to do lots of squats, after a short while you will be able to squat a moderate amount, but as 90% of guys in weight areas only bench and curl, and make all kinds of excuses not to squat, such as bad knees etc... they will be intimidated by your squat and the tables will have turned!0
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1: Most of the "prancing around" is rest periods between sets. It's not uncommon when lifting heavy to have to rest longer than it takes to actually lift. Sitting is no good, you have to keep your blood flow up, so you gotta just walk a bit.
2: Don't let what you think complete strangers are thinking get in the way of your fitness. The only thing standing between you and your goals is the bull**** excuses you make for yourself.
3: People look at other people. We infer a lot from looks, posture, body language. Friend or foe? It's part of the reason we are still around as a species. So what? Last time I checked a look never hurt anybody.
4: Co-opt one of the big scary guys. Ask for a spot, or a question about technique. Be the dominate force. You do know that one of the main reasons men workout is so they will be attractive to the opposite sex right? They are probably just as worried about what you think of them!0 -
1: Most of the "prancing around" is rest periods between sets. It's not uncommon when lifting heavy to have to rest longer than it takes to actually lift. Sitting is no good, you have to keep your blood flow up, so you gotta just walk a bit.
2: Don't let what you think complete strangers are thinking get in the way of your fitness. The only thing standing between you and your goals is the bull**** excuses you make for yourself.
3: People look at other people. We infer a lot from looks, posture, body language. Friend or foe? It's part of the reason we are still around as a species. So what? Last time I checked a look never hurt anybody.
4: Co-opt one of the big scary guys. Ask for a spot, or a question about technique. Be the dominate force. You do know that one of the main reasons men workout is so they will be attractive to the opposite sex right? They are probably just as worried about what you think of them!
1.- This was quite possibly the case but in the time I was there (30min) 3 of these guys did absolutely nothing. Long rest perhaps.
I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm simply wanting advice on how to continue so that I feel comfortable enough NOT to make any excuses for myself. I'm new to all this as I am sure you were at one stage or another.
4.- Maybe I wll do that- thanks for your advice!
pyrowill- They were looking, after my first set I actually saw one guy elbow the other one to turn to have a look!
Oh and I don't wear shorts! I wear long lycra leggings.
Skypie- thank you for your encouragement, I really appreciate it.
Thanks everyone! I'm going to do the ipod thing I think and I guess the more time I spend in the weights section the easier and more familiar it will get. Plus I will get STRONG so I can kick some *kitten* if I need to. :laugh:0 -
Put your ***** face on and don't mind anyone or anything. Plus if they're looking it's probably for other reasons.0
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You are there to train, not to care about what others do, male or female. Yeah they might be looking, and thinking you look finnne when you do a squat, i know because i would be one of those guys, it lasts about 3 seconds in our heads then we could give 2 sh*ts about you. If any of them try to hit on you, tell them to *kitten* off, more then likely you will get away with it because there is always the bigger guy to pull the other ones back into line.0
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they starring at u and thinking " that *kitten*" not " what is she doing here" lol TRUE STORY
men dont try intimidate women , unless they gay0 -
I wouldn't be so blunt but I agree. As long as you're putting in work, no one will care.You are there to train, not to care about what others do, male or female. Yeah they might be looking, and thinking you look finnne when you do a squat, i know because i would be one of those guys, it lasts about 3 seconds in our heads then we could give 2 sh*ts about you. If any of them try to hit on you, tell them to *kitten* off, more then likely you will get away with it because there is always the bigger guy to pull the other ones back into line.
I seen one of the greatest sights the other day. A lady squatting 315, *kitten* to ground. Most guys can't even do that.0 -
Yup. It's very unusual to see women in the weights section in the UK, but the ones that are there regularly get the same respect as everyone else.
I wouldn't be so blunt but I agree. As long as you're putting in work, no one will care.You are there to train, not to care about what others do, male or female. Yeah they might be looking, and thinking you look finnne when you do a squat, i know because i would be one of those guys, it lasts about 3 seconds in our heads then we could give 2 sh*ts about you. If any of them try to hit on you, tell them to *kitten* off, more then likely you will get away with it because there is always the bigger guy to pull the other ones back into line.
I seen one of the greatest sights the other day. A lady squatting 315, *kitten* to ground. Most guys can't even do that.
Work hard, and nobody cares whether you have to two love nuts hanging between your legs.0 -
So I've just started weight training and for my first few sessions the weights area (that is still a bit of a foreign area for me) was nice and quiet. Got to the gym last night, it was packed with BIG, scary-looking blokes, all prancing around and not doing a great deal.
I felt like they were ALL staring at me and probably thinking "what is she doing in here"
What advice can all the weight training females on here give me.. I really want to stick to doing this programme but I really found the experience very off-putting last night. Squatting especially!
just get in there and DO it...
I've been in the weights area for about 4-6 weeks, and have had some interesting experiences.
Most of the time the guys are really nice. The last time there was a guy on the smith machine before me, he offered to unload and reload the bar for me...except when he heard i was a noob, he only loaded 20# on the bar, and I was squatting at least 2x that at the time
I caught some old guy ( a regular) watching my squat while he was resting...so I called him out and asked him to check my form
I have had other members stop me on my way out and tell me they saw how hard I was working
I think I saw the 22 year old trainer checking out my squat last week ( gotta smile that he wanted to check out this obese old lady's squat)
Yesterday I found out that the fitness monitor ( like a step below a trainer) has watched me several times and I didn't know it. He approached me once to complement me on my squat weight...then yesterday he said my form was spot on.
I think you just have to wrap your head around the fact that they *might* look at you like you are a piece of meat the first few times you are in there...but once they can see what you can DO, you'll probably graduate to "little sister" and the regulars will treat you with respect and make sure other people do too. Especially if you start lifting more than they do 0 -
Just do your thing, you aren't going to get kicked out.
I take my notebook and write down my weights/reps and that keeps me busy between sets.
If you need help ask one of the guys, they'll probably be pretty friendly.
TOTALLY.
I know how terrifying it is - as a seriously fat girl (size 24) I felt out of place on a treadmill, let alone in the "dude weights" section. However, the program I'm on (NROLFW) says I need to lift heavy so I'm going to do it. At first, I kept having to walk out of the area on my "rest" breaks because I felt so judged and uncertain. Then a few things happened that completely changed my perspective.
1) After three weeks I was lifting heavier than quite a few of the prancing turkeys you mention. That gave me confidence.
2) One particularly burly, suuuuper buff guy (the alpha intimidator as I thought of him) actually come up to me and commended me - apparently he'd noticed how quickly I was progressing and wanted to give me props on beating my PB and "not wasting your effort on the cardio crap but actually LIFTING"... and
3) One night when I was feeling particularly lacking in confidence a young, buff guy kept giving me weird looks and acting shifty. Thinking he was pissed I was using 'his' weights or just generally disgusted by my existence, I had gathered up the nerve to say "what the hell are you staring at" when he finally walked straight past me to the guy behind me and started trying to (he was very longwinded and unsure) ask him out.
Needless to say... the more time you spend in there, the more weight you're lifting and the more you give those boys the benefit of the doubt, the sooner you'll realise you belong in there just as much as they do
GOOD LUCK! 0 -
I feel ya! When I first signed up for a trainer at the gym, I was blessed with the BEST one in the world. As I didn't know I would be set up *( ) when I filled out my questionaire.
What goals would you like to achieve
blah
blah
What fears do you have when you work out.
I said "The Gorilla Room!" I wouldn't mind lifting weights if they had a 'girls' spot.
What do you think is the first thing she did?:laugh: After a nice warm up......straight to the cage. I was
because, ya know, I was paying for this!
BEST thing she ever did for me! When I was going to the gym, I would go straight there after warming up. If there was a guy by the free weights I would say "Are you going to use these?" as I lifted my 10 pounders:laugh:
After a few times I had guys spotting me, encouraging me and smiling at me.
Now I might have reminded them of their mommas, but the point is they don't really CARE! :laugh:
BTW, you are a lovely girl. When they stop looking, you will wish they would! Enjoy your youthful hotness, and continue on your healthy journey.
Arewethereyet0 -
Yeah, everyone there knows the feeling of starting out, and the unsureness that accompanies it. So you can probably expect most folks to understand where you're at and be encouraging or helpful. I suppose there could some jerk going "a woman lifting weights??? What's next? Women astronauts???" But that's pretty unlikely. That's to the extent you interact anyway of course. A lot of people, like me, mostly just like zone out and try to get the work out done. If I'm using my peripheral vision to check you out I either think you're attractive or am impressed with the lift and am trying to assimilate something useful.0
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Just do your thing, you aren't going to get kicked out.
I take my notebook and write down my weights/reps and that keeps me busy between sets.
If you need help ask one of the guys, they'll probably be pretty friendly.
TOTALLY.
I know how terrifying it is - as a seriously fat girl (size 24) I felt out of place on a treadmill, let alone in the "dude weights" section. However, the program I'm on (NROLFW) says I need to lift heavy so I'm going to do it. At first, I kept having to walk out of the area on my "rest" breaks because I felt so judged and uncertain. Then a few things happened that completely changed my perspective.
1) After three weeks I was lifting heavier than quite a few of the prancing turkeys you mention. That gave me confidence.
2) One particularly burly, suuuuper buff guy (the alpha intimidator as I thought of him) actually come up to me and commended me - apparently he'd noticed how quickly I was progressing and wanted to give me props on beating my PB and "not wasting your effort on the cardio crap but actually LIFTING"... and
3) One night when I was feeling particularly lacking in confidence a young, buff guy kept giving me weird looks and acting shifty. Thinking he was pissed I was using 'his' weights or just generally disgusted by my existence, I had gathered up the nerve to say "what the hell are you staring at" when he finally walked straight past me to the guy behind me and started trying to (he was very longwinded and unsure) ask him out.
Needless to say... the more time you spend in there, the more weight you're lifting and the more you give those boys the benefit of the doubt, the sooner you'll realise you belong in there just as much as they do GOOD LUCK!
Jules, you really made me laugh- that is brilliant! thank you!! :flowerforyou:0 -
I feel ya! When I first signed up for a trainer at the gym, I was blessed with the BEST one in the world. As I didn't know I would be set up *( ) when I filled out my questionaire.
What goals would you like to achieve
blah
blah
What fears do you have when you work out.
I said "The Gorilla Room!" I wouldn't mind lifting weights if they had a 'girls' spot.
What do you think is the first thing she did?:laugh: After a nice warm up......straight to the cage. I was because, ya know, I was paying for this!
Awwwwwwwwwww- thank you!
BEST thing she ever did for me! When I was going to the gym, I would go straight there after warming up. If there was a guy by the free weights I would say "Are you going to use these?" as I lifted my 10 pounders:laugh:
After a few times I had guys spotting me, encouraging me and smiling at me.
Now I might have reminded them of their mommas, but the point is they don't really CARE! :laugh:
BTW, you are a lovely girl. When they stop looking, you will wish they would! Enjoy your youthful hotness, and continue on your healthy journey.
Arewethereyet0 -
Just get in there and get stuck in! I promise you, it will get easier with time.
When I first started going I only went when my boyfriend did, I was too shy to go by myself (my gym is all male members apart from me as far as I know) When my uni schedule changed, and even more so now that I'm in full time work (our hours are completely different) I HAD to go my myself, there was no other choice unless I wanted to train 1-2 times a week only.
The guys are so nice. I got to know most of them (the regulars anyway) and they all recognise me, they know I train seriously. I even have a few as friends on facebook. Nobody's ever said anything negative at all. Occaisionally there'll be a few new lads there who obviously haven't seen a woman lift like that before - I noticed them looking over, but they never said anything negative too, a couple have said hi before just randomly. I use it as an opportunity to go extra hard and get some PR's now! lol
Nobody will think badly or think "what's she doing here" UNLESS you mess about not doing much, getting in their way, OR you interrupt them in a middle of a set. Some women on here I've seen think that using a piece of equipment (such as the squat rack) with a really light weight in comparison to the men, is somehow getting in their way if they are waiting to use it. NO! You pay to go there, just like them, they can wait like they would with the men. Or work in if it's possible.0 -
True story: yesterday at the gym, a really jacked man skipped in front of me like a six year old girl pretending she's a fairy princess. I know that there's a logical explanation for this, but I can't think of one. I was the only one staring at him like he was crazy.
From personal experience, men are thinking one of three things.
(1) she looks hot in those shorts/yoga/pants/strange womanly clothing item I don't know what it is;
(2) wonder if she needs a spotter;
(3) hope she doesn't think I'm not lifting enough weight.0 -
Managing to look intimidating whilst prancing around it pretty impressive though.
Fake it 'till you make it.
You've been nervous of new things before, but that didn't stop you.
They're more scared of you than you are of them.0 -
Also, I just wanted to add: If they are staring / looking, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
One time I was working out at the gym, doing OHP (with something like 30-35kg) and this small group of guys were looking over. I tried to ignore it and just carry on. It wasn't so obvious that it made me uncomfortable or anyway. Anyway, a couple of minutes later my boyfriend comes over to me. He was working out a bit closer to them over the other side of the room. He tells me that one of the guys was taking the piss out of his newbie mate, saying "she can lift more than you" LOL No lie, that made me feel quite good.
Other reasons they might be looking over:
- Haven't seen her before (or any woman for that matter) Pretty cool!
- She looks hot! - This is more likely to apply if you wear short shorts or something like that.
- Wonder if she needs a spot, that's a lot of weight!
- I wonder if I can get my wife/girlfriend to come along now - A regular there actually admitted his wife wanted to lose weight and come to the gym but she didn't want to workout with all men.
and...
- Her form doesn't look that great, I wonder if she'd appreciate any help with that. - If you're form is fine, you don't have to worry about this, but it's a possibility.0 -
True story: yesterday at the gym, a really jacked man skipped in front of me like a six year old girl pretending she's a fairy princess. I know that there's a logical explanation for this, but I can't think of one. I was the only one staring at him like he was crazy.
From personal experience, men are thinking one of three things.
(1) she looks hot in those shorts/yoga/pants/strange womanly clothing item I don't know what it is;
(2) wonder if she needs a spotter;
(3) hope she doesn't think I'm not lifting enough weight.
^This. But mostly (1). The skipping part hurt my brain.0 -
When I go to the gym, all the guys swinging their backs like rocking chairs to get their max lifts intimidate me. My solution is to run 3 miles, go home, don't shower and then come back the next day. That sweat will have matured into a permeating scent that will clear all the machines and benches within a 5 meter radius.0
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