I want to. I mess around with poncey 6kg dumbells in the gym, and do Kettlebell training classes (which I love!) at the moment and my body has definitely improved; but I know I could be making bigger improvements if I just took the leap and started lifting heavy.
Echoing the other people's sentiments about the weights area being traditionally male dominated, I'm also kinda scared to go in there and start throwing stuff around. I'll either hurt myself because I'm stupid or end up annoying everyone in there.
Until like three days ago, our Uni gym and had just ONE bench and so I always felt as though I would be just getting in someone's way as it is always very busy. Realistically, I know 90% of the men down there won't give a crap about what I'm actually doing down there, and the 10% who do are going to be idiots anyway, but there's still the feeling of 'I don't belong here, get me out!!'. Moreover, the gym staff's general idea that all girls want to do is get an exercise mat just to do some crunches, mess around with a Swiss ball for a bit, and then spend half an hour on the Powerplate reeeeally doesn't help.
Cannot wait until both me and my bf have graduated and can go to the same gym and he can actually start training me properly.