Do you workout in a women's only gym?
qstneverything
Posts: 125 Member
I'm just curious how many women here work out in a women's only gym vs regular gyms?
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Home gym in our garage. But I'm the only one that uses it, so I guess you could call it a women's only gym!
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i lift in two places: trainer gym once a week, and the regular city rec centres the rest of the time. both are co-op, although mr t does do a women-only group on a different night of the week.
it's never been my thing. i'm not proud of this, but i compare myself more and take discrepancies between myself and other women more personally. and i'm lucky enough to lift in spaces where there isn't much need for a 'safe' place in other respects. people are too down-to-earth at the rec centres to hit on people, and mr t is fierce about not allowing isms of any kind in his own space.0 -
I'm almost always the only, or maybe one of two females in the free weights section of my gym. I'm usually surrounded by big dudes doing curls :P I've never had any issues with it, though. I've heard from others that a lot of female-oriented gyms don't have much in the way of weight equipment so a coed gym works best for me.0
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I guess I should answer my own question!
I used to work out in a chain-owned women's only gym, purely so I would have free reign on the weights section, haha. The gym I went to was great, free breakfasts, free deodorants/hairspray/use of hairdryers and hairsprays etc, plus I never saw anyone use the weights section, only the cardio equipment upstairs.
Then I moved house and had to join a different branch of this women's gym. It was much smaller, no benchpress, and really inconsiderate people. There was limited equipment and you'd always see girls using heaps of different equipment at once - one time a girl had abandoned the squat rack and had been running on a treadmill for 20 minutes. I went to use the squat rack and she started yelling at me she was 'still using it' and proceeded to use the squat rack, two machines and a treadmill all at the same time, leaving heaps of people waiting to use these machines she was hogging.
I've joined a co-op gym recently and it's great. Although it's mostly men they're all really courteous, everyone respects each other's space, no equipment hogging etc. I'm not saying that men in gyms are better than women and I had a pretty good experience at the first women's only gym I went to, but the last one was horrible.0 -
there's a branch of the ywca RIGHT IN the same building i'm working at, at least on three days of the week. they had an open house week that ended recently, so of course i toured it.
yeah; i have to say i'm conflicted. in some ways i love women-only spaces and i'm a fierce advocate about it. i'm really happy about this group, for instance. but i think i have found that most of the time when i tour a 'women' space in a gym, it's just not really oriented towards women who lift and are serious. in other words, to me it's not just about having a 'safe' place to do the same stuff that men do. it's also usually about having a space where you don't do as much of hte stuff that 'men do'.
so idk. just not my kind of thing, i guess. i'll also just say that the two forays i made into actual classes or groups that were 'for women', it was all nope. they might have been poorly conceived . . . or again, maybe just not directed at someone like me. but i totally get the intimidation factor; i almost fainted the first time i made myself go into the weight room where i started out. and yet taking 'intro' stuff that's for women only just doens't seem like it hits the right spot for me either. i get tired and itchy at all the cooing and affirmative 'kick *kitten* ladies' talk and all that.
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I have only been to one women's specific gym and it was a crossfit location. I enjoyed the trial workout. It was fun to have a few women also lifting and it was a very small location. Worked on a couple of things I hadn't done before, but wasn't something I was interested in paying a membership for since I have my own lifting focus with powerlifting as opposed to the more class/directed sessions they conducted. That and it was a lot of pink as that was their theme, pink iron.
Most of my lifting has been general locations: 24 Hour Fitness and Anytime Fitness. The guys are around, as lately I've been lifting mid-day instead of late at night, which was my old norm. However, they don't notice me much or cause any problems. Only nuisance is the tendency to leave the weights instead of putting them away. I can't just go bench 135 so it's a nuisance having to take that crap off every single time almost.
I have noticed the guys have an easier time talking to each other. There are women around during the day but we don't seem to interact as much with each other. I see more guys lifting in pairs or small groups and they have an easier time interacting. So far at new gym only guy to say anything to me so far it was obvious he was a little awkward cause we made eye contact then he made a "no pain no gain" type of comment. But yeah, far more often than not, they don't interact with me much. And on the plus side, it means that once I get the rack, no one is bothering me to work in or anything. hehehe1 -
I go to a women's only gym and I love it. It's just so much more comfortable for me. I'm not comfortable with the stares and attention in coed gyms, so I like knowing I don't have to worry when I go. (I also have large amounts of social anxiety so it helps that too)1
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The women only gyms I know off are those circuit type ones, so I've never wanted to try. Couldn't do my strength training in one of those. Could just be a UK thing though, never hear of any other kind.
I go to Anytime Fitness which has 2 power racks. So far never had a problem with access. I go at 6am at weekends and after 9am weekdays. So far the guys I've met have be fine, everyone says hello, then just gets on with their workouts.
The gyms only been open 2 weeks though, so things could change.1 -
I'm lucky enough to have a gym @ the house. If I didn't, I honestly wouldn't care about a "woman's" gym vs any other gym. I would choose a gym based on price and if they have equipment that fits my needs (power rack, bumper plates, etc.)1
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Happy to belong to a place that isn't too intimidating. But I have been in those places where everyone is just way too intense and they are not fun. It took some courage the first few times to walk up to the Olympic bar but over time I realized, hey! I belong here too!1
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I go to a regular gym. I really enjoy mixing in with the guys, I know I'm not the only female who does heavy lifting but at the time I go I'm the only one. I find the men are always encouraging and they are genuinely impressed to see females lift. I've never heard a bad comment against me. Plus you can physically see their head swell up when you ask them for pointers or to spot you. They love it.
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I have a half rack in my living room. My living room looks horrible now big it's so perfect I don't even care. lol Before I got this I worked out at planet fitness. The only time I ever went to a female gym was almost 15 years ago when I went to Curves for a while.
I much prefer doing this at home. I hated every second at the gym.0 -
I do, because it's cheaper than any of the other gyms. One location that I go to has several power racks, etc. so it works for me pretty well. The other one has one crappy squat rack, but no one uses it, so that's good.
I didn't chose it because of the fact that it was only women... I chose it because of the price point.0 -
I go to a women's only gym. It is one of the closest to my house, on my route home from work. When I was naively shopping around for gyms some months ago at the start of my fitness journey it was purely about losing weight for me. At the time I liked that they had many free classes, lots of cardio equipment, and no stinky men. I've come to find out that I hate the group classes after trying several different ones. Now, I've been slowly weaning myself off cardio and moving into strength training. They have a very limited supply of free weights and no squat rack, but since I'm still in the stages of learning to squat my body weight and BPing 20lbs this isn't a problem just yet.
I feel very locked into the year contract I signed with this gym and don't want to move just yet. They are very friendly and welcoming and since I am the only woman in there weight training I have the limited equipment all to myself.2 -
I have a small gym at my work and so it is a mix of ladies and gents. At first I was very self conscious lifting small weights while the guys where lifting heavy, now I do not give a toss !!1
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I go to women's only but picked it for variety of non women reasons: price, amenities and it is 24 hours. LOVE THAT. EXCEPT: the weight room with the racks is locked up after their regular day hours so I have to juggle to get there in time to get my sets in using the racks. The other free weights (dumbbells and fixed weighted bars) are still available.0
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