To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

I listened to that and got bulky! I have had any friends who have been injured by bad trainers.
Trainers are not really trained in anything and should be largely ignored.
Listen to your body, if something hurts, stop.

OP
Your attitude is why so many don’t go to the gym . Please be kinder - you don’t know what is going on with other people, what their goals are or how experienced they are

You are the reason I'd rather go for a walk at lunch instead of wasting money at the gym. 😎

That's untrue for most women. It's incredibly hard to bulk up with female physiology, and you're not going to get bulky from 8kg bicep curls!

I did heavier weights, tore a ligament/tendon thing in my elbow, was in quite a lot of pain every time I used my dominant arm (!) for 9 months before a steroid injection into my elbow fixed it.
Lighter weights for me from now on.

Oh and I do see what others are lifting because it's a sort of circuit class so we get to a station with 2 or 3 others and have to pick our weights, often discussing which ones we want, swapping, using one big one if 2 smaller are not free.
No one is judging (it's one of the reasons I love this class), but I do know what others are lifting.

Maybe they could lift heavier.

But maybe they don’t want too.
Maybe they think lifting too heavy will bulk them out, maybe they’re mainly at the class as a social thing with friends or to get out of the house for an hour.
Maybe they can’t lift heavier because of injury, or maybe they’ve built up from a lower weight and aren’t strong enough for a higher weight yet.

But even if they could lift heavier, a half arsed workout is better than no workout so they’re still ahead of the game 🤷‍♀️

Just leave them to choose whatever weight they’re happy with and concentrate on what you’re doing!

I don't think 2kg weight for a woman with no health issues is going to make much difference at all. Maybe build some endurance, but unlikely to help look toned and defined and get much stronger.

I tend to use anything from 5kg to 12kg depending on the exercise.

I am absolutely not in the least bit bulked up, but have very good definition and am pretty strong (not weight lifting strong, just generally).

I suffer from endometriosis and it can be harmful to lift heavy weights due to triggering inflammation and flare-ups.

If you approached me and told me to lift heavier I’d simply tell you to fuck off.

I'm just not very strong, and a bit afraid of bad form and injury.

Maybe these women are giving maximum effort, they're just not as ...expressive as you. A lot of people hate it when others are loudly huffing and puffing!

Though the old "women shouldn't do weights or they'll get bulky" has long been discredited, there are many modern trainers who say women can get good health results with reps, not necessarily lifting heavy. I'm not an expert, but the Body Pump/Body Pump Heavy debate is ongoing. But we can get good results without the risk of lifting heavy. Women, more than men, are likely to have injuries to worry about (a lot of women have post pregnancy issues), and there isn't the same social pressure on us to lift heavy.

Youre ignoring the person’s history. I never did weights. Then I started on 0.5kg, upped it slowly and now I use 2kg dumbbells. I’m not moving up any more because I like how my body looks and feels. I’m not chasing gains, I’m looking for maintenance.

Did that for about 15 years, but the classes don't fit with my work/ family schedule anymore. And although it was good for my flexibility, the weight classes are definitely what's given me more strength and improved my running.

Have you tried pilates? I've got a lot of past injuries and find pilates ( through my physio) really good at building up all the little muscles that help.

And sometimes I don't know how hard an exercise will fit. So sometimes I wish I'd chosen heavier, but other times I choose too heavy and barely do any reps.

I don't know why I can't lift heavier. I want to- especially when women 20 years older than me can. Been going to the gym for 20 years. Weight classes for about 8. A lot depends on what the class asks of me. Sometimes I can do a 5, sometimes it'll have to be a 3.

Annoyingly, it's not the muscles. It can be my wrists, or my hands. It can be my iffy ankle or my knee twinging. It can be my prolapse threatening an appearance. It can be that I can't bear the feel of the the bar across my shoulders and just want to tear it off. Sometimes I'm just so drained from work, i yawn all the way through and find my own head heavy.

If you’re watching other people you’re not working hard enough. As can be seen from the thread, many people mistakenly think that heavy weights will make them big or manly. But who cares, you’re not going to the class for them, focus on yourself.

You’d tell me that, would you?!

And you say you don’t judge.

You’ve assumed I want to lose weight, and that my motivation for the gym is body image. It’s not.

You’d also not be aware of my treatment plan for an eating disorder.

You’ve just proven to everyone on this thread that it’s not about curiosity, it’s about superiority. So no more good faith engagement for me.

Edited to say I still can’t believe you’d be so catty

Because most women want tone not bulk!
I don't think 8kg is much for bicep curls btw, i use a lot more. I have a job which requires me to be strong though.

@Ilostallthepens "It’s for experienced people who are aiming to increase their personal bests (therefore working up to lifting heavier and heavier"

maybe that IS them working harder and lifting heavier and heavier - they need to use a weight that's challenging for them. That could be completely different to a weight that's challenging for you.

You don't know what weight they started lifting when they began

I'm sure you would think I don't lift heavy enough

We're not all built the same way

Funny you mentioned CrossFit because I tried that andp it was too much for me. Again because I don't want to push 110% every session. We're all different.

I personally think anyone going to the gym needs to use the gym properly.

And if you use the gym properly you concentrate on what you are doing and don't give a shit what other people are doing.

That's my take anyway.

Clearly it's not and if it is a class why isn't the instrutir leading