To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

Nothing about your tone in your OP and your responses suggest you are asking this as good faith question where you genuinely want to know something you don’t already understand.

you think you know the answer, which is that they aren’t doing it properly. And that you are, and therefore you are better than them.

Other than injury (which you seem to think is unlikely), any suggestions as to other reasons why they might be doing this, and that some of these might be valid reasons, (ie they enjoy doing it the way they do it even if it’s less effective) are dismissed by you.

Maybe you are right. Maybe you are the only one in the class that really getting the most out of it as a strength training workout. Maybe they are scared to lift heavier weights and are misinformed . Maybe they don’t understand it as well as you do.

feel better now? You are right and you are the one doing it right and they aren’t.

so what? Maybe they love the class and go home with a sense of achievement. Why isn’t that as valid a reason for being there?

I know nothing about strength training. But I’m pretty sure that going to a class and lifting something, is going to be better for you than not going to a class at all.

And perfectionism is not a healthy trait.

This is me - there are a lot of limits on what I can do in regard to lifting despite being taught how to do it properly and having had pelvic floor physio. Things can still get very miserable. And you really wouldn’t know by just being in a gym room with them who those women are.

No. Fuck those people who might sneer. They sneer at everyone.

Honestly, for every one of them there are many many more who are thinking, “You bloody go for it!”

I promise you that.

Generally the gym is a positive encouraging place. You should be proud of going regardless of your weight.

If you worried about your dp / friends being embarrassed associating with the fat person (Jesus wept, why are you associating with them if this is the case?), then get them to set you up with a routine of weights then leave you alone to do it every time.

A lot can be achieved in just an hour. I hope you go for it!

I don’t believe you about the type of class, ie for experienced people trying to lift heavier. I think you are talking nonsense or need a new class.

I train in a group setting, we are not elite just ordinary men and women, all middle aged. The lightest weights we use are 7.5kg and most of the women are doing bicep curls with AT LEAST 10kg dumbbells, OH pressing 12.5kg dumbbells, deadlifting at least body weight, these are the women who define as less strong. Those who like to push harder are deadlifting 100kg, pressing 20kg etc.

Your mimsy little weights 🤣 are not what experienced lifters would even blink at. To be very clear I would not be judging you or anybody. But any woman who has been training for more than a few months would be aiming for much higher weights than you.

I think you are just being goady, and getting it wrong.

Regarding bulk, just chiming in to add to the chorus to address the misinformation. I’m late 40s and train every day, lift heavy, run and do Pilates and yoga and I’m slim and toned (unless I’m flexing to show off my chunky biceps and delts LOL). I weigh 58kg and deadlift 105kg.

People exercise for all different reasons, when I was injured last year I still ran, but slower than normal. How sad to think people who didn’t know me would think ‘why isn’t she pushing herself’.

You do whatever suits you and your body / exercise plan.
People at the gym might like the social side of it, may be recovering, may just want to lift lighter weights - who knows, but it’s none of your business and you certainly shouldn’t be judging anyone. People who watch and judge others are the reason some people hate gyms .

Blimey. Pipe down.

The op wasn’t judging. She was curious.

It’s very hard to bulk out.

There is little point in lifting 2kgs for weeks on end. It’s not going to even tone you if it’s no effort.

To make any difference in strength (not bulk), there needs to be some effort and it needs to be a little hard to lift the weight.

Having said that, movement is powerful and better than nothing.

Op, you keep on going!

I probably fall into this category , have no desire to build muscle ,although I’m a serious way off this I’m sure !
At our gym, there’s a woman who does body pump who stands at front of class , every week she puts huge weights on her bar then half way through a track proceeds to drop the bar to the floor and starts taking them off as she can’t lift them! It’s irritating and disturbing to the rest of the class so I’d much rather under estimate what I can lift comfortably !

Seriously, Tom Morrison SMM. Paired up with lifting weights it's been amazing for my hEDS. He's got free stuff to look at.

I feel like I'm on a bouncy castle now when I'm walking.

I have recurring tennis elbow (partly why I can't play tennis as much as I want) but looking at me you wouldn't know. I also have dodgy knees (think I may have arthritis) so don't do as much weight when I do squats. I'm a regular gym goer.

Stop fucking judging.

To tone muscle, you have to build muscle; tone/build, same thing. Getting bulky, big, and muscular-looking takes specific training and years to achieve, so in a keeping fit and healthy stance, it wouldn't probably happen unless you specifically wanted it to and specifically trained for that.
As with any exercise, there has to be relative effort. Having never exercised, you always start easier. To improve, you challenge and have to feel some discomfort, even to tone muscles, and you can lift heavy without looking like Arnie.
I dont think OP is judging, I think they understand not everyone will train like her. But, I have also met people in general, who aren't seeing the results they wanted but who won't increase intensity in fear of getting bulky through lack of knowledge that toning is building muscle, and the huge bulky thing is very, very specific training, and most will not achieve this with heavier weights and a bit of effort alone. That's all it is.

I go to the gym for my MH - no other reason

I lift heavy. I couldn’t care what people around me lift - I respect people around me because you never know what their circumstances are. Don’t judge, do better.

Exactly this plus this incorrect view has been perpetuated many times on this thread.
I'm shit at sports in general but the one thing I'm consistent with is going to the gym. I like to challenge myself and have the motivation to.
I'm not big and bulky but honestly my legs at 49 are the best they've been. I love thinking I might be motivating to other women when I'm the only one, at times on the benches with free weights amongst half a dozen men.
Younger women seem to lift heavy and dont buy into the bulky bs.

8kg for bicep curls is not a flex. Pick some.proper weights up*

It's not very nice to be judged..

Is that why you go there, because it boosts your ego a bit?

Gym life is all about support, not about the weights. The only time you pay attention to someone else is if they're in danger of hurting themselves or they're new and haven't quite grasped what they're doing properly. Seeing someone's confidence grow so they can pick up something heavier is the best.

I like to work in my technique as I’m hyper mobile. If I went to my max weight I would probably over bend / stretch and cause some damage. My aim is to strengthen my joints and supporting muscles which I have to focus on quite hard not to over extend

Well you are judging we all do it. There’s a bloke who goes to mine and has personal training and is such a lazy sod, lying on the floor between sets being dramatic and I think why are you paying. But I recognise that’s a me problem judging him it’s something in me and have a word with myself, I don’t know his situation .

always interesting to look at what irritates us and look inside our self as to why.

For every person that doesn't care or watch or judge, there is always some other person sneering.

My DD and my boyfriend both ask me to go with them, but I, like this poster, just cannot stand the idea of people like the OP and all the others agreeing with them watching and judging. I know I am fat, I know I don't know what I'm doing. I've seen the social media posts ridiculing larger people in the gym. I also don't want to embarass DD or my boyfriend by being the fat one associated with them.

No thanks.

Everyone could lift heavier, it doesn’t mean they should. Even if the intention is to lift heavier its really important that a decent amount of workouts are lower weights to protect your mobility and joint health.

As someone who is bulking for summer I have decreased my weights in all workouts so I can fully focus on form and muscle definition. Thats what will give larger and more defined muscle growth (along with diet). Once I’m happy and I want to just maintain I’ll likely start increasing weights again.

If someone slim wants to look ‘toned’ lowish weights and high rep is fairly sensible, especially if they don’t have regular 1:1 to maintain good form. People in classes typically don’t recieve correct form feedback, so are likely to injure themselves.

What a lovely thing to say - thank you 💐

That has made me well up a little 😬

This. I can bicep curl more than 8kg but I’m not there judging others doing less. Though to be honest OP if you can do 8-12 reps you’re not lifting heavy enough either. My advice would be get out the class and get in the gym. Lift at your own pace not at a class pace….it leads to injuries imho.

Please don't let this deter you. My gym (just a normal, cheap chain) is great, there's a whole range of people in there, many nationalities, ages, sexes, morbidly obese to pumped up muscle men, and everybody just gets on with their thing. There's the odd nod in passing if it happens but not much really in the way of interaction. There are judgy people everywhere you go, in the supermarket, the post office, the beach and therefore yes, in the gym. But who cares? I go to the gym for my own well being in my scruffy old leggings and baggy T-shirt and I don't give two hoots if someone, in all the lovely gear, looking beautiful is sneering at me. That says more about them than it does me. So, chin up, don those trainers and go do it for yourself, it may just inspire someone else to think they can do it too!

@stargirl27 Team Endure as I like the shorter workouts. I’m on a month trial (thanks to a MNetter).

Or for fear of being judged

Perhaps they like doing what they're doing and enjoy it, perhaps they're not confident, perhaps they're rehabbing, perhaps they're there to have fun and enjoy themselves and just don't want to life heavier. Perhaps just focus on your own workout 🙄