Why don't women lift?
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Original post by Dark Horse
Seriously, why don't they?
It seems to me that they're always banging on about "losing weight", even when they're underweight. Why do we keep hearing stories about young girls with eating disorders or reading idiotic facebook statuses about "feeling guilty" after eating a chocolate bar, even though their body was probably heavily catabolic and borderline Auschwitz-mode.
And why do they think that "losing weight" automatically means "look good". Why do they always talk about dress sizes and other irrelevant numbers instead of getting under a ****ing bar and squatting. Have most women ever seen pictures of a woman who lifts?
Notice that she doesn't have deeply cut muscles or much bulk? But she's lean and tight. She looks athletic and sexy. She'd be awesome in bed as well, I'd wager, purely because her lifestyle suggests that she has high energy and squats give the hip-thrust an extra "umph". Yes, my friend.
What are the so-called alternative girls are going for? Well they either diet themselves to this size and cover a flabby physique with flattering clothes or they just sit around declaring weights "not for them" whilst paradoxically wishing they had a physique like the woman in the attachment pictures.
And don't get me started on crash diets (special k lulz). Anyone who still gets sucked in by them after they seen what happened the first time clearlyneeds help.
It seems to me that they're always banging on about "losing weight", even when they're underweight. Why do we keep hearing stories about young girls with eating disorders or reading idiotic facebook statuses about "feeling guilty" after eating a chocolate bar, even though their body was probably heavily catabolic and borderline Auschwitz-mode.
And why do they think that "losing weight" automatically means "look good". Why do they always talk about dress sizes and other irrelevant numbers instead of getting under a ****ing bar and squatting. Have most women ever seen pictures of a woman who lifts?
Notice that she doesn't have deeply cut muscles or much bulk? But she's lean and tight. She looks athletic and sexy. She'd be awesome in bed as well, I'd wager, purely because her lifestyle suggests that she has high energy and squats give the hip-thrust an extra "umph". Yes, my friend.
What are the so-called alternative girls are going for? Well they either diet themselves to this size and cover a flabby physique with flattering clothes or they just sit around declaring weights "not for them" whilst paradoxically wishing they had a physique like the woman in the attachment pictures.
And don't get me started on crash diets (special k lulz). Anyone who still gets sucked in by them after they seen what happened the first time clearlyneeds help.
All the women i know who joined went to lose weight. I went to gain weight so I researched it and therefore lift.
The soup diet is the worse. My sister's friend goes on it every few months loses a few stone, then gains i all back when she starts eating normal food. She's over 10 years older than me so won't listen to me.
Original post by takethyfacehence
I would like to start lifting. Admittedly I've not looked into it a lot, but it's something I'd like to do - I've never had a gym membership, and not been particularly fit consistently for the last couple years so it doesn't feel very 'on the cards' at the moment, but I reckon it would be great to do. Not sure where to go/who to ask etc. so I could do it right, and I wouldn't want to try and learn from Youtube videos or something.
Yeah. I'd like to try and persuade a friend to come with me.
And to the poster above who talked about gym culture, spot on. It is really intimidating to go into the weights area of a gym - and women-only gyms often don't have the right equipment.
Spoiler
^ Can't get a body like that without lifting
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by angelbones
And to the poster above who talked about gym culture, spot on. It is really intimidating to go into the weights area of a gym - and women-only gyms often don't have the right equipment.
And to the poster above who talked about gym culture, spot on. It is really intimidating to go into the weights area of a gym - and women-only gyms often don't have the right equipment.
It's intimidating for a skinny man as well. People are too busy concentrating on what they're doing and you will barely be noticed.
Original post by Dark Horse
Skinny fat isn't feminine, imo.
She might not be the best example, because she seems to be an actual female bodybuilder, but I believe there is another category called "Women's Figure" where they can keep their feminine physique but still compete.
But the point is: lifting is pretty much the best way to get lean. And women somehow think starvation is.
She might not be the best example, because she seems to be an actual female bodybuilder, but I believe there is another category called "Women's Figure" where they can keep their feminine physique but still compete.
But the point is: lifting is pretty much the best way to get lean. And women somehow think starvation is.
I think lots of Figure athletes would still be too masculine for the girls who've replied here. Defined if not massive delts etc.
Bikini yes, but they're pretty skinny.
EDIT: Figure's quite a broad division though, depends who you look at I guess. Off season Figure girls are far from too masculine imo, but then I'm perhaps not the best person to ask.
EDIT2: But this is a bit silly. Your average woman who lifts will NEVER look like an IFBB Pro Figure or Bikini athlete. It's a stupid comparison. Could a lot of women, particularly skinnyfat women look better if they lifted? Sure.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by TheInformer
It's intimidating for a skinny man as well. People are too busy concentrating on what they're doing and you will barely be noticed.
Nah, I've been laughed at before for going into the weights area. Granted, I am (more than a little -.-) round, but still.
Original post by angelbones
Nah, I've been laughed at before for going into the weights area. Granted, I am (more than a little -.-) round, but still.
Complain to the management. Most gyms, especially hardcore ones which typically don't have many women members, take intimidating/misogynist behaviour very seriously.
Original post by angelbones
Nah, I've been laughed at before for going into the weights area. Granted, I am (more than a little -.-) round, but still.
Classy gym that must be... never seen anyone get laughed at at the gym. You might get a few looks but who cares? use it as motivation.
Original post by TheInformer
It's intimidating for a skinny man as well. People are too busy concentrating on what they're doing and you will barely be noticed.
Yeah, totally true. I'm 5ft4 and was less than 60kg when I started working out. The 6ft 90kg guys are a bit on the intimidating side of things to begin with. But avoiding the situation never solved anything just have to go for it to get over it
Original post by angelbones
women-only gyms often don't have the right equipment.
I saw inside a women's only gym once, my impression is they don't tend to really be gyms. More places where fad fitness classes happen. Which points to another problem of no gym or fitness brand challenging that status quo. Nearly all fitness stuff market at women is about being a stick
Girls tend to think more about losing wieght and getting fitter rather than building muscle. There's also that fear about looking too masculine.
Barely ever see girls lifting weights...most just do cardio.
Saw a girl doing squats today and she was looking at a routine on.a bit of paper I was going to ask to have a look...but she did lunges after so in 6 months she will have a much better physique than the rest of the girls in the gym who are in their comfort zone on the treadmills.
Saw a girl doing squats today and she was looking at a routine on.a bit of paper I was going to ask to have a look...but she did lunges after so in 6 months she will have a much better physique than the rest of the girls in the gym who are in their comfort zone on the treadmills.
Original post by McHumpy92
Barely ever see girls lifting weights...most just do cardio.
Saw a girl doing squats today and she was looking at a routine on.a bit of paper I was going to ask to have a look...but she did lunges after so in 6 months she will have a much better physique than the rest of the girls in the gym who are in their comfort zone on the treadmills.
Saw a girl doing squats today and she was looking at a routine on.a bit of paper I was going to ask to have a look...but she did lunges after so in 6 months she will have a much better physique than the rest of the girls in the gym who are in their comfort zone on the treadmills.
This is true. Out of the 30 or so girls in my gym at one time, only about 5 will be doing something other than gentle cardio, 4 will be on leg machines doing 100 reps for one set and then 1 will actually be doing a proper weights workout. Take a guess who has the best body.
Yes! So confused at the myth that women think having boney legs is more attractive to a male, squats will do wonders for your figure ladies
I'm a girl and I lift and I know other girls who do too...(but I'm a weakling so don't use that heavy weights so maybe this doesn't count :P)
But saying that most girls have very easy goals to.achieve...basically no muscle and not that lean...the male equivalent would be appalling.
When you go out on a Saturday night you see loads of lads who you can tell train...you barely see girls that do and if so they're usually in their 30's. Not even talking female bodybuilder here I'm talking athletic.
When you go out on a Saturday night you see loads of lads who you can tell train...you barely see girls that do and if so they're usually in their 30's. Not even talking female bodybuilder here I'm talking athletic.
Original post by Dark Horse
Seriously, why don't they?
It seems to me that they're always banging on about "losing weight", even when they're underweight. Why do we keep hearing stories about young girls with eating disorders or reading idiotic facebook statuses about "feeling guilty" after eating a chocolate bar, even though their body was probably heavily catabolic and borderline Auschwitz-mode.
And why do they think that "losing weight" automatically means "look good". Why do they always talk about dress sizes and other irrelevant numbers instead of getting under a ****ing bar and squatting. Have most women ever seen pictures of a woman who lifts?
Notice that she doesn't have deeply cut muscles or much bulk? But she's lean and tight. She looks athletic and sexy. She'd be awesome in bed as well, I'd wager, purely because her lifestyle suggests that she has high energy and squats give the hip-thrust an extra "umph". Yes, my friend.
What are the so-called alternative girls are going for? Well they either diet themselves to this size and cover a flabby physique with flattering clothes or they just sit around declaring weights "not for them" whilst paradoxically wishing they had a physique like the woman in the attachment pictures.
And don't get me started on crash diets (special k lulz). Anyone who still gets sucked in by them after they seen what happened the first time clearlyneeds help.
It seems to me that they're always banging on about "losing weight", even when they're underweight. Why do we keep hearing stories about young girls with eating disorders or reading idiotic facebook statuses about "feeling guilty" after eating a chocolate bar, even though their body was probably heavily catabolic and borderline Auschwitz-mode.
And why do they think that "losing weight" automatically means "look good". Why do they always talk about dress sizes and other irrelevant numbers instead of getting under a ****ing bar and squatting. Have most women ever seen pictures of a woman who lifts?
Notice that she doesn't have deeply cut muscles or much bulk? But she's lean and tight. She looks athletic and sexy. She'd be awesome in bed as well, I'd wager, purely because her lifestyle suggests that she has high energy and squats give the hip-thrust an extra "umph". Yes, my friend.
What are the so-called alternative girls are going for? Well they either diet themselves to this size and cover a flabby physique with flattering clothes or they just sit around declaring weights "not for them" whilst paradoxically wishing they had a physique like the woman in the attachment pictures.
And don't get me started on crash diets (special k lulz). Anyone who still gets sucked in by them after they seen what happened the first time clearlyneeds help.
I lift (properly) so I can get stronger for rowing but I think most girls don't b/c of a worry that they'll get too muscular. The girl in the OP looks pretty but even I wouldn't want arms like hers, although of course not all girls who lift will necessarily end up with a body like that. Obviously some guys will find that attractive but girls tend to want to look like the popular "hot" female celebs e.g. Jessica Alba or Cheryl Cole, both of whom are toned at most but certainly not "built."
Also, most other girls I see in the gym stick to the smaller weights (like 5kg ones) and do dozens of reps with them which obviously does **** all - again i guess there is a stigma attached to lifting if you're a girl. Personally my female friends make a much bigger deal of it than my guy friends do, they would rather we do stuff like pilates classes and so on together but I can't see it having as much benefit. That and Id rather do 5 sets of squats than 5 minutes on a step-up machine or something.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by RawJoh1
Complain to the management. Most gyms, especially hardcore ones which typically don't have many women members, take intimidating/misogynist behaviour very seriously.
Huh, never even thought of doing that. I just put everything down and got out of there as fast as possible. I probably looked like a bit of a **** anyways, I had no idea what I was really doing.
Good to know, thanks.
Original post by TheInformer
Classy gym that must be... never seen anyone get laughed at at the gym. You might get a few looks but who cares? use it as motivation.
Yes.. It was normally lovely. Unfortunately it was right across the road from a detention centre so there were a lot of big beefhead-security-guard types.
Original post by BKS
I saw inside a women's only gym once, my impression is they don't tend to really be gyms. More places where fad fitness classes happen. Which points to another problem of no gym or fitness brand challenging that status quo. Nearly all fitness stuff market at women is about being a stick
I saw inside a women's only gym once, my impression is they don't tend to really be gyms. More places where fad fitness classes happen. Which points to another problem of no gym or fitness brand challenging that status quo. Nearly all fitness stuff market at women is about being a stick
Yehp. The ladies-only section of my old gym had more powerplates than treadmills
Original post by Ezekiella
I lift (properly) so I can get stronger for rowing but I think most girls don't b/c of a worry that they'll get too muscular. The girl in the OP looks pretty but even I wouldn't want arms like hers...
Also, most other girls I see in the gym stick to the smaller weights (like 5kg ones) and do dozens of reps with them which obviously does f**k all...
Also, most other girls I see in the gym stick to the smaller weights (like 5kg ones) and do dozens of reps with them which obviously does f**k all...
Unless you have some extremely good genetics/ take steroids or have been training for a very long time with a spot on diet and routine, most girls wont be able to get "too muscular".
Regarding the 5kg dumbells for a thousand reps etc I guess you can put that down to the mythical concept of 'toning' *cringe*.
Original post by TheInformer
Unless you have some extremely good genetics/ take steroids or have been training for a very long time with a spot on diet and routine, most girls wont be able to get "too muscular".
Regarding the 5kg dumbells for a thousand reps etc I guess you can put that down to the mythical concept of 'toning' *cringe*.
Regarding the 5kg dumbells for a thousand reps etc I guess you can put that down to the mythical concept of 'toning' *cringe*.
Yeah personally lifting has made me slimmer (went from a size 8 to a size 6 since I started again recently), I have a very healthy diet though so guess that helps. Am planning to continue lifting for a while however and TBH I would hate it if I ever "bulked up" (I guess it comes down to wanting to look athletic but still femiinine).
And I guess somebody has to use the 5kg dumbbells, they are useless even for wrist curls unless you're recovering from an injury or something.
Original post by Ezekiella
Yeah personally lifting has made me slimmer (went from a size 8 to a size 6 since I started again recently), I have a very healthy diet though so guess that helps. Am planning to continue lifting for a while however and TBH I would hate it if I ever "bulked up" (I guess it comes down to wanting to look athletic but still femiinine).
And I guess somebody has to use the 5kg dumbbells, they are useless even for wrist curls unless you're recovering from an injury or something.
And I guess somebody has to use the 5kg dumbbells, they are useless even for wrist curls unless you're recovering from an injury or something.
That's the best look in my opinion - athletic. Plus it shows you have other qualities like hard word, dedication, not lazy and so on.
Yeah they have some 2kg dumbells at my gym who know what people use them for.
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