To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

What is putting people off is the insistence from posters that everyone must do it right or else they get judged.

Stay in your own lane, mind your own business etc. etc. If people don’t go for the results you think they could achieve or don’t even want to that’s up to them. If they’re wasting time or money in your opinion it’s their money, not yours.

Did you actually read the OP? She wrote about women in strength training classes who aren't bothering to do actual strengh training, which involves lifting progressively heavy weights.

If you can't lift heavy weights, then don't go to strength training classes. No one is judging you for not going to strength training classes! Work out an exercise programme that's good for you. There are various options at a gym that aren't strength training classes!

I asked Copilot what the benefit of Bodypump was. It said studies showed it improved Bone Density and reduced the risk of Osteoporosis, it also said it had better physiological benefits than the equivalent length cardio class. Splendid as that’s just what I need.

Most of us are not idiots. We know that it would take a lot of heavy lifting to bulk up and that it’s super duper for your health, just as I know that eating too much chocolate is not particularly healthy. My own experiences in the past when I have significantly increased weights - and this was with a trainer not Body Pump - is that I ended up with injuries that meant I couldn’t exercise at all for long periods. So I would rather stick to my feeble teeny tiny weights that still feel heavy to me, although I know I of course should do better.

Oh and in 30 years of gym going I have never seen 0.5kg weights used in any class and pink lady weights died out in the 90s.

Strength training sounds tedious as hell. But If people do things ‘wrong’ then so what? Seriously why does it affect you?

Nobody is saying you shouldn’t do strength training. To be fair, nobody really cares. Why are you so determined to ‘educate‘ everyone?

By being so dismissive, you are actively putting people off from trying to get fitter. Those of us who are overweight are self conscious enough without knowing that people are judging for not doing it properly.

If you would rather tell people they are wrong than to encourage them to go in the first place, then that is mean spirited.

It is a shame if the only think that puts people off giving it a go is an outdated notion. If they are happy where they are great but if the only reason they aren’t increasing weight is because they think it will leave them with a bodybuilder physique then it is sad.

strength training is great for women and we need to be tackling the misconceptions so people aren’t put off unnecessarily

This is like those threads where someone erroneously states how they make their lasagne to be met with THATS NOT AUTHENTIC, when they dont really care whether its 'authentic' they just like their lasagne their way.

I didn't start this thread.

Strength training is massively important as women age, we should be lifting heavy. The research indicates this **

There's a real misunderstanding on this thread. If you are doing strength training then the main goal of strength training is to increase your strength. The way to do that is progressively to increase the weight you can lift (there is more than one way to do this, if for some reason simply aiming to lift the maximum weight each time is not possible).

If you are in a strength training class and you are not attempting to increase the weight you can lift, then you are not following the principles of strength training. There are various other forms of exercise that may be more suitable for you if you're not interested in strength training.

The outraged responses to pointing out that strength training is about getting stronger through resistance and weight training are quite strange. It's not about being judgemental, it's simply observing that some people are doing it wrong. If you don't want to build strength then do something else. Cardio and HIIT, for example, are both great forms of exercise. Pilates is amazing.

The other thing that perturbs me slightly is the rejection of the principles of strength training. Being strong is good, working your muscles has a vast range of other brilliant health benefits beyond strength. To be honest, if judgements are being passed on this thread, it's at us who do strength training and are supposedly doing something that women shouldn't be doing.

How do you tone?

There are lots of women on the thread who have explained why they don't lift heavy weight, lots of reasons. Very dismissive of peoples experiences to write those reasons off as scared to exercise in case they get big.
There are also lots of women who do lift heavy on this thread who understand that bodies and motivation are personal. You do not know how these people feel, any physiological problems or anything else really. This is why it's judgy.

Hmm, not sure I judge others as such, but I do compare. I started at the gym end of last year lifting 4kg bicep curls, now on 8 kgs, but that's 8 reps so probably should go higher on less reps. I'm competitive, with myself and others (hate getting on a machine and having to put the weight down). I'm also very overweight, so I'm sure I get judged in a different way when I'm there!

But you know nothing about them so save yourself the brain strain

But they are grown adults who are capable of finding things out. It’s fine if you really have to ‘educate’ strangers at your gym (although to be prepared to be told to fuck off) but starting a thread sneering at people for not doing more is disgusting. And you can see that this attitude is actually preventing some people from actually engaging with exercise.

I am established, go regularly and there are various reasons I stick with lower weights.

I wouldn’t like to think someone else is looking at me and negatively judging me for

1. not working out as hard as I could
2. not following advice as well as them
3. not keeping up with the size of their weights!

There is a split, but it's more between people who understand what strength training is and women who are scared to exercise because for some reason they've been conditioned to think women shouldn't do certain types of exercise.

I like lifting heavy, but don't question why others don't. What they do and why is their own business.
They're in the gym, regularly by the sounds of it. That's better than nothing! Good for them!

well yeah, I've been there and still quite pissed off over all the years I wasted doing some useless 'toning' stuff. So no, I'm not exactly gleeful when I see other women falling into the same trap.

Due to a heart condition I can’t lift heavy weights and will never be able to do so because of strain and stress on my knackered heart. Knowing I’m probably being judged and watched just using lighter weights will definitely not be helping me. It’s taken a lot to join a gym to regain some sort of fitness. So OP mind your own fucking business.

Oh its such a shame. Tilts head patronisingly.

Wont reach their goals. Sad face.

Speaking as someone who has gone to the gym for years to lift weights.. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

Everyone has their own journey, let them be.

Most “strength” classes with high reps are mainly cardio so lighter weights are more suitable. Fitness classes are for fitness, not ego lifts.

For anyone thinking lifting heavy makes women “bulk” I suggest going and watching some of the videos on social media from Natural Strongman. The women in these competitions are lifting very heavy. They are all shapes and sizes other than what people see as “bulky”

Twiddling the 0.5kg weights is the easiest way to do yourself an injury as well. Slow controlled movements are needed to grow muscle, flinging arms around with no resistance will just pull a muscle! Completely agree with you!