Why don't women lift?

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Why don't you go onto youtube or bodybuilding.com and check out some of the guides as to how to lift weights.

Ignore the guys who say weight lifting is not for women. They sound weak themselves

Thanks. I've been looking at some, but I'm just not confident that I could do them without hurting myself :s-smilie:

My health hasn't been great lately, to be honest, and I'm not really up to starting anything too strenous right now. I know I'm making excuses, but I think for now I need to work on my general fitness.

Original post by Sophie1985

why dont u try what im doing. Push ups, but if u cant do a full one then concentrate on lowering urself really slowly. I aim for six of these, if its getting too easy i pause just at the bottom.

pull ups, same, if u cant lift urself lower urself really slowly, i can barely do that atm but it really uses lots more muscles than u think.

Squats, if u can manage more than say 10 increase the weight, i use a backpack full of books lol does the job, again pausing at the hardest point will increase the intensity.

I also got myself dumb bells, i lift 9 kg with both hands then lower with one arm. Exercising eccentrically (lowering instead of lifting) is meant to work ur muscles deeper. After my first workout like this i was aching for about 4 days after, saves money on the gym, good luck x

There are better exercises you can do (with dumbells, for instance) than push-ups for working the arms. Women's wrists are a lot weaker than mens, and mine just can't support my whole body weight, even when doing "girly" half push-ups where you keep your knees on the floor. I can just about do one pull up, but it pretty much kills me :colondollar:

I've been doing simple body-weight and dumbell exercises, as well as doing cardio to generally increase my fitness levels.

Reply 161

Soph(:

The area where men o weight lifting in the gym seems liek it's 'only for men' ie. they look at you funny when you go over there

Reply 162

Bellissima

sorry but she has very unfeminine forearms... not something i'd like...

Reply 163

username305809

Original post by Chrisateen

You seem to be very assuming yourself. Ok you don't want to look like the woman in the first picture fair enough. However you shouldn't be judging people just because some women decide to lift and have a bit of muscle. Plus just because a woman lifts does not mean that they are overexercising and if you think 30min - 1hr 3 to 4 times a week is overexercising then no wonder your skinny fat.

Well I apologise for you thinking I am like that... but I am not. I am simply making an observation about his attitude towards women.

I haven't said that all women that use weights and go to the gym are overexercising... I only said that people shouldn't let themselves go overweight as it is unhealthy, but what Dark Horse was basically suggesting is that they should all turn out muscle-bound instead.

And skinny fat? What are you trying to suggest by that comment?

Reply 164

Beardbrah

Original post by bretters

I lift, I've lost over two stone with a weights programme. I just don't like to tell other girls my secret! Half so that I'm thinner than them but mostly so they won't turn up, I like working out around men that don't even notice I'm in the room so I don't ever feel self conscious. It's not considered to be masculine at my gym at all. I'm in really good shape and have in fact never felt more feminine than I do now.

reps coming at you! keep lifting the good lift!

Reply 165

Dark Horse

Motivation for the females.

And I guess the males as well lol

Reply 166

Ronove

Original post by Dark Horse

Motivation for the females.

And I guess the males as well lol

I would've thought lifting while being oiled up was a bad idea. But hey, they're experts, right? :wink:

Reply 167

Chrisateen

Ok I decided to make a thread on here on whether or not weight lifting makes a woman bulky which goes hand in hand with this thread

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1987731

Reply 168

newts2k

Original post by AmiraSerafina

It's the media. *sigh*

And generally, wanting to lose weight is part of a girl's hard drive in that brain of ours.

What makes it worse, is that girls don't realise that there are many different body types and figures and nobody can ever be exactly like, say, Victoria Beckham's figure.

I'm curvy, and no, not "I'm overweight/obese so I shall call myself curvy". I'm Kim-Kardashian-Curvy. And thanks to all this mania of trying to wear a certain type of clothing that's in fashion, or look slim because guys like it, I was depressed and yo-yo dieting for a good 2-3 years of my teens. Awful. :s-smilie:

Are you Latina? Even though I can't stand KK as a person, she has a really sexy bod but there don't seem to be many girls like that in England

Reply 169

Dark Horse

Original post by Ronove

I would've thought lifting while being oiled up was a bad idea. But hey, they're experts, right? :wink:

U jelly?

Reply 170

Ronove

Original post by Dark Horse

U jelly?

No.

Reply 171

Dark Horse

Original post by Ronove

No.

You bring no lulz my friend.

Reply 172

Brighten

I use dumbbells and machines but I'm afraid of the free weights area because it's usually really busy and there are never any women in there.

Reply 173

AmiraSerafina

Original post by newts2k

Are you Latina? Even though I can't stand KK as a person, she has a really sexy bod but there don't seem to be many girls like that in England

I'm not actually, I'm half French & Algerian, so I'd be expected to look slender and tall like my mum is, but I'm not. :P

Reply 174

newts2k

Original post by AmiraSerafina

I'm not actually, I'm half French & Algerian, so I'd be expected to look slender and tall like my mum is, but I'm not. :P

are algerian girls generally booty endowed?

Reply 175

AmiraSerafina

Original post by newts2k

are algerian girls generally booty endowed?

Nope. Usually very slim and slender.

Reply 176

MrHappy_J

This thread still going on?

:facepalm:

Reply 177

EonBlueApocalypse

Original post by Firecrackerchild

Why don't I lift?

The pervy guys at the college gym (which puts me off from going to the gym to do anything, let alone lifting), who spend all their time in front of the mirror admiring their arms and shoulders, whilst using the weights. It's quite intimidating.

Sure you get the odd douche checking themselves out, but what you refer to as guys admiring their arms and shoulders whilst using weights is guys checking their form and making sure they are doing the exercise correctly, you know to reduce chance of injury, get the most benefit from the exercise etc etc...

Reply 178

Architecture-er

Original post by JongKey

I have to admit, i'm scared to start lifting because i don't want to bulk up. I'm uneducated on how to lift without bulking up too much so i think that's the problem with women and lifting nowadays.

Don't worry, bulking up is largely down to what you're fuelling yourself with. For example, somebody chowing a lot of protein whilst having a mesomorphic bodytype will bulk up fairly easily (though it'll still be gradual over a month or so), whereas an ectomorphic bodytype who eats a standard meal will find is significantly harder.

For example, I've been eating food like there's no tomorrow, going to the gym 4 times a week for a month, and I'm still on the lower side of an average muscle build :wink:

So don't worry about turning into a vein-streaked freak after 2 weeks, it's very gradual indeed, especially if you've never built muscle before. And if you think you're getting too muscular? Just lay off for a couple of weeks, watching films and doing some cardio to keep yourself in shape. It's such a safe way for females to keep fit!

Reply 179

SophiaKeuning

Original post by SubAtomic

Because many think they'll end up like this after a few pull ups and curls

Spoiler

But yeah the girl in your pics has lost her feminine arms. Quite a hench lady.

No. I think for most of us it's 'I can't be bothered'. Why should we have to lift? There's no important health benefits. If some girls want, they'll head down the gym once a week and do a bit of jogging to remain healthily fit. When it comes to toning up the muscles, it's unimportant. And it isn't particularly feminine, something to strive for. The only reason why someone should have the toned physiques displayed in the OP is if they do sports. If it's just lifting at the gym, I see no point. It is a lot about vanity.