"Lift like a woman" Fitness Assessment
leooftheyear
Posts: 429 Member
So I went to the gym for my fitness assessment last night, the first guy I met with was a COMPLETE *kitten* and was telling me how I should be doing higher reps/lower weight with 10lb dumbbells vs the stronglifts 5x5 program, and told me some convoluted math problem to convince me I’d be moving more weight doing high reps with a 10lb dumbbell than with 5 sets and 5 reps with an 80lb barbell…. UMMMM OK WHATEVER DUDE! So the trainer took me out on the floor and did squats, deadlifts, chest, core, back, shoulders, triceps, hip flexibility and a little cardio (with the heavy ropes you move with your arms) and we went back into the room and the *kitten* was like “what were her strengths and weaknesses?” the trainer goes “Her core and back are really strong, her deadlifts and squats are perfect and her only weakenesses were her chest, triceps and left hip” the *kitten* changed his tune after that and was like “Have you ever thought about doing a strong woman competition”
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Jerks like that are everywhere. I asked one guy if he minded if I deadlifted behind him (he was doing shrugs in the squat rack) he told me he was done and offered to help me with my weights. I told him it's unnecessary but he tried to put 25lbs on one side of my bar, I had to just roll my eyes and ask him to stop. Assuming I couldn't deadlift 100lbs when I was deadlifting 185lbs was a bit insulting, but he was an idiot and left me alone after I set up my bar
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Well, at least he was willing to change his tune instead of blindly sticking to his original advice.0
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Well, at least he was willing to change his tune instead of blindly sticking to his original advice.
Have to agree with this
I'm really glad that I've been going to the gym long enough that just about everyone who works there knows who I am. And most of the people who go at the same time as me know who I am. But I have gotten looks/comments from people who don't know me about "lifting too much" or "not belonging in the weights area." I just smile and then prove them wrong (just like you did
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Well, at least he was willing to change his tune instead of blindly sticking to his original advice.
Have to agree with this
I'm really glad that I've been going to the gym long enough that just about everyone who works there knows who I am. And most of the people who go at the same time as me know who I am. But I have gotten looks/comments from people who don't know me about "lifting too much" or "not belonging in the weights area." I just smile and then prove them wrong (just like you did).
Thanks guys i thought it was kinda hilarious that as soon as i proved myself he went automatically to a strong woman competion, which i have nothing against the women that train to do that, but he never asked about what i wanted to get out of strength training like toning, lose fat, retain muscle, etc. but yes, at least he was willing to change his tune 0 -
I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??0 -
coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??
TO the bolded, the people who still believe that "lifting makes women bulky." LOL0 -
coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??
TO the bolded, the people who still believe that "lifting makes women bulky." LOL
or that just becuase you are lifting heavy that means you should do a strong woman competition and want to become a meathead like them?!?
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leooftheyear wrote: »coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??
TO the bolded, the people who still believe that "lifting makes women bulky." LOL
or that just becuase you are lifting heavy that means you should do a strong woman competition and want to become a meathead like them?!?
Of course
I mean, that's the only reasonable expectation once you've started lifting heavy weights, lol! 0 -
leooftheyear wrote: »or that just becuase you are lifting heavy that means you should do a strong woman competition and want to become a meathead like them?!?
like trying to buy a bike when you're a woman. if you don't want a 50-pound travelling armchair with pink streamers hanging from the bell and a basket up front, you must be a Roadie and want lance armstrong's old bike. stupidly frustrating.
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leooftheyear wrote: »coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??
TO the bolded, the people who still believe that "lifting makes women bulky." LOL
or that just becuase you are lifting heavy that means you should do a strong woman competition and want to become a meathead like them?!?
Of course I mean, that's the only reasonable expectation once you've started lifting heavy weights, lol!
LMFAO!!!! my other favorite part was when i told him how long of a rest i take between sets (1.5 mins, 3 mins or 5 mins) he was liek well your rest periods shouldn't be that long, i only take 26 seconds and i count my ABCs, 1 letter a second..... UMMMMMMM OK MR.MEATHEAD0 -
coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice.
i've had mostly that too. if you're lucky and get that kind of atmosphere overall, the one or two morphodites who do stick their heads up can be more like comic relief than anything you really worry about. i'll cross my fingers about it for the op.
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leooftheyear wrote: »some convoluted math problem
oh, so he does math? that's a little bit of a surprise, coming from a guy who needs his abcs to help him count up to 26 when he's in between sets.
should ask him if he can count to 21 without dropping his pants
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canadianlbs wrote: »coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice.
i've had mostly that too. if you're lucky and get that kind of atmosphere overall, the one or two morphodites who do stick their heads up can be more like comic relief than anything you really worry about. i'll cross my fingers about it for the op.
Thanks the trainer and even the guy who signed me up for the gym were both super supportive of me lifting, so i'm hoping it ws just that one guy
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canadianlbs wrote: »leooftheyear wrote: »some convoluted math problem
oh, so he does math? that's a little bit of a surprise, coming from a guy who needs his abcs to help him count up to 26 when he's in between sets.
should ask him if he can count to 21 without dropping his pants
LMFAO
i just shook my head and was like whateve mr.meathead 0 -
The trainer who gave the guy feedback on your assessment, were they male or female?0
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coltsgirl311 wrote: »I've been very lucky at my gym, all the guys I have talked to in there are really nice and some have said they're impressed to see a girl in there lifting with the barbell. They've also given me some helpful form advice. Hopefully you will run into more people like that than the guy you are describing.
I would be so mad if someone told me I "didn't belong in the weights area"! Who says that??
TO the bolded, the people who still believe that "lifting makes women bulky." LOL
Oh yes, true. I just shake my head at those people. lol
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canadianlbs wrote: »leooftheyear wrote: »or that just becuase you are lifting heavy that means you should do a strong woman competition and want to become a meathead like them?!?
like trying to buy a bike when you're a woman. if you don't want a 50-pound travelling armchair with pink streamers hanging from the bell and a basket up front, you must be a Roadie and want lance armstrong's old bike. stupidly frustrating.
LOL silly girl, the gentler sex should not ride bikes or else they'll get the Bicycle Face garethrees.org/2012/01/10/shadwell/0 -
MissHolidayGolightly wrote: »LOL silly girl, the gentler sex should not ride bikes or else they'll get the Bicycle Face
clearly the guy's never seen anything like my Deadlifting Face or he wouldn't worry so much about bikes. idk why, but having my entire lower lip area sucked in underneath my top teeth helps the transition from pull to lockout.
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Interesting how the response you got in the main forum to the same opening post is so different to what you got in here.0
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ooohh . . . .
/curious now.
edit: i'm gonna guess. 'now now, he was just trying to help'. 'actually, studies show that women DO get [unpleasant result] if they lift too heavy.' 'my boyfriend/husband/imaginary fuckbuddy would never let me do that, he says blah blah blah blah'. 'lifting heavy is obviously making you too aggressive, you should just chill.' 'vote if the person above you is too aggressive or not.'
gonna be ticked if at least my first guess is wrong.0 -
i must be spoiling for a fight (too much testosterone, prolly . . . oh noes!). but i left my own nickel's worth on the 'general' thread, and just wanted to say to leo that i thought you handled yourself with a lot more grace than i probably would have managed if it had been me who had been that op.0
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How typical that you are "allowed" to be either a weak little thing or a burly strong woman. Why would a normal woman want to seriously strength train and improve her health, figure, and wellbeing?
Loved @canadianlbs' and @logg1e's points on the public boards. Such a refreshing change from, "ZOMG calm down! You should never let anything or anyone affect you negatively everrrr!!!" Being treated poorly because you are a woman has been brushed off for ages to little avail.
I linked to the Victorian era Bicycle Face warning because it was the embodiment of fear of women becoming strong and independent. It sounds ridiculous to us today but it's not that different from the fitness advice women hear all the time now. Just eat a bunch of carb cereal, do cardio and some small weights just so you feel toned, and whittle yourself away until you disappear. Don't lift heavy weights or you'll get big and ugly and no man will want you is just fear that women will become stronger, more independent, and better able to stand up for themselves.0 -
Not sure if this is terribly relevant to this discussion, but I just had to get it out.
I was doing my usual Saturday morning workout with the usual crowd that goes to the gym at opening time on Saturday. There's this one guy who's probably in his mid-50s or so who's a real loudmouth. Generally he keeps it to borderline misogynist comments, trite stuff that sounds like he must be recently divorced: women spend all your money and want too much time, and stuff like that. Well, today he was talking with another guy who I didn't recognize and it turns out that this second guy is in the middle of a fight with his gf about something relatively trivial and came to the gym to get out of the house. On learning this Loudmouth says, "better to be in Syria or Iraq than live with a woman, huh?" They were standing about 5 feet from me. I really wanted to say something but I figured that the best thing to do was keep lifting and not respond. It did feel like an awfully hostile environment for a bit, though. I mean, really, better to be in a *war zone* than share space with a woman, come on! If you're going to say s**t like that, save it for the locker room. Don't say it when one of the people you're comparing unfavorably to terrorists is standing 5 feet from you.
TL;DR: there was an @ssh0le in the gym this morning!0 -
A few months ago I promised myself that I'd challenge sexism when I saw it. It was the fact that other people had been doing this that educated me about feminism. But you know what, you have to trust your instincts and stay safe.0
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I agree about challenging sexism, honestly, and I tend to be pretty aggressive about it, actually. It would have been hard to say much in this cae since I was in the middle of a set and going over to the guy when I was done to bring it up just seemed too awkward to deal with. Had I been part of the conversation, or even just in-between sets, I probably would have said something.0
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I think you made the right call.0
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So I just read that other thread.
And *that's* why I don't do the regular forums. You ladies and one other awesome group are it for me, and I'm more than OK with it.0 -
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canadianlbs wrote: »i must be spoiling for a fight (too much testosterone, prolly . . . oh noes!). but i left my own nickel's worth on the 'general' thread, and just wanted to say to leo that i thought you handled yourself with a lot more grace than i probably would have managed if it had been me who had been that op.
Thank you, unfortuanly it went exactly as i expected it to go (well not so much his strong woman competition suggestion after i proved that i wasn't some stupid girl off the streets) i had one a few years back at a different gym and the woman made me feel like complete crap...needless to say i didn;t sign up for her services0
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