To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

I go to a HIIT class twice a week OP. It’s got one of those catchy names that suggest energy and movement and fitness. I am a size 22 and have been going for a year and not lost any weight. Would you tell me I’m not doing enough?

At the strength classes I go to, the instructors would tell me if they thought I should be using heavier weights.

Use straps if you’re struggling with grip

I mean if you’re doing 12 reps yourself you aren’t lifting heavy enough imo. You should be struggling on your 8th one and once you can complete that then you should be upping the weight. Presumably there’s a reason you don’t go higher? Same probably applies to those women too.

I don’t bother myself with watching other people at the gym though because most of them don’t do what I’d do so I keep myself to myself.

Awww bless OP are you just so teeny tiny

So it's a process. Can you maybe let them work through that process in peace?

I love running and all I see on social media is people mocking women like me who aren't on 12 week training plans to run a marathon immediately, but are actually just enjoying ourselves and appreciating our bodies a bit in our middle age. Mocking women who have just started running for wearing a running vest because they're not running far enough to justify it. Mocking women for every form of exercise they do because they're not doing it right and to expert level. Sometimes it's literally just about moving your body in any way you can or any way you want but there's always some Eeyore waiting to side-eye you.

Ok slightly off topic but HOW are you all deadlifting 80+ kg…my fingers want to fall off at 45kg!!! Seriously the pain in my hands is what’s holding me back from trying to up the weights!

How is being in the gym and lifting weights part of not having a life? Everyone should do some strength training whether that’s weights, bodyweight, heavy gardening etc
being in a gym or exercising elsewhere helps you live your life, for longer

Thanks, I thought I'd gone mad for a minute there!

But your Spanish class analogy is stupid .. you aren't there to learning something, but refusing to learn, you are there doing something you already know how to do, so how you do carry out that activity is entirely up to the individual taking part.

A better analogy would be going to the library and instead of utilising any of the books, you sit doing a crossword. Or going to the swimming pool, just to float around instead of swimming... all perfectly normal 'each to their own' stuff.

The point is it doesn't matter how they do what they do, there is no 'wrong' way, if you are genuinely bothered that people don't realise what they are capable of, then why not mention it to whoever leads the class? It's their job to get the most out of people.

Or you could just concentrate on what you are doing and let other people get on with what they are doing, there could be lots of reasons why people don't push themselves to their limits and none of it is any of your business.

So - obviously judging women at the gym for the weights that they are lifting is completely unreasonable behaviour. As everyone has said, there are multiple reasons why people might choose to exercise in the way they do, and they should be allowed to get on with it without judgement.

That being said - there are an awful lot of myths (that have become accepted truths) around weightlifting in women. The whole ‘heavy weights = bulk’ and ‘high reps low weights = tone’ have been debunked. Added to this, some people will lack the confidence to lift heavier.

I agree women should lift heavier

but these classes are not the place for it

Just lift in the gym for bigger weights

Your OP literally says " in the gym"

Yes people ask questions on here all the time that is normal being this fixated on what other people dont do is not really, why does this worry you so much?

Gym, classes, whatever

maybe the weights they are lifting are heavy for them. In which case, job done.

YANBU OP, but unless posters are into strength training they won’t understand. There is little point in lifting weights if the weight you are lifting isn’t heavy enough! It won’t improve your health or protect your longevity.

Also people don’t realise until they start strength training, that it’s almost impossible to “bulk up” as a female! It’s very, very difficult for women to gain significant amounts of muscle so generally they don’t need to worry about that.

No such class exists

Osteoporosis is not an injury

Actually, thinking about it, women lifting light weights will also be helping to keep their bone density up

@CypressGrove yes that is definitely a thing! And I'm quite convinced that all the tough workouts are causing more injuries than I used to see in the past.

I hope no one feels intimidated by post like OP - I know a lot of people find the gym very intimidating because they think people are judging, unfortunately that may be true....