To think some women could lift heavier in the gym?

[Ilostallthepens]

I go to a strength training class a few times a week. It’s almost always all women, class size is about 15. I’m not especially strong or experienced at lifting weights but I notice I’m always lifting the heaviest (sometimes by a long way) than every other person there. I’m also working to my maximum capacity for the 8-12 reps we’re doing. I’m huffing and puffing and sweating doing bicep curls with an 8kg dumbbell in each hand and I look over and the woman next to me is lifting a couple of 2kg dumbbells with no visible effort at all. I see this in a lot of the women there. They don’t seem to push themselves to their limit or even that close to it. I’m talking about women a similar age to myself that have been going to the gym for at least as long as me. I get some people may not want to push themselves to their max effort for whatever reason, eg. an injury, but I’m seeing lots of women seemingly not putting in half the amount of effort that they seem capable of and over a long period of time. So this makes me think the reason must be they don’t believe they are capable of lifting heavier, or they don’t want to lift to their max ability for some reason. Why do you think this is? Have you experienced this? Do you not work to max capacity in the gym? If not, why not?

Why are you watching other people at the gym? What they’re doing is none of your business, and knowing what they’re all doing is creepy.

Focus on yourself and leave everyone else alone.

Some do. Some don't.
80kg is my deadlift PB so I do.

Get on with your own training and stop worrying about what others are doing.

Back in day when I went to the gym I did low weight high reps. I wasn't looking to build muscle just to tone.

Or they just want to tone up not bulk out

I'm 62 and have only been going to the gym since July 2025. I've deadlifted 87.5kg, aiming for 100kg this year. I push myself on all the machines/weights; otherwise what's the point??

(And loving the lumps on my arms!!)

I pushed myself and ended up with overworked traps, bicep tendinopothy and shoulder injury. I'm still out of the gym 14 months later. So, without guidance, caution is necessary.

Why should they. If everyone was a competitive eager beaver the world would be stressful place. You do you.

Don’t be a judgy pants. Feeling like they’re being looked at funny for not exercising “right” is what puts a lot of people off the gym.

I go to classes like that but I really don’t pay attention to what other people lift.

Sone people (like yourself) are motivated by chasing gains. Other people just want the general wellbeing benefits that follow from regular movement. And that’s all fine.

Who gives a flying shit what any other person does in the gym? This is why people are nervous to go because of people like you judging them at what they are doing and what they want to achieve. Stay out of it keep your opinion out of it do your own work outs pick your own weights and leave everyone else alone and stop watching them. There you go problem solved. Non issue. Pointless thread. Happy Friday evening

I'm recovering from osteoporosis. I am following a medium load, high rep regimen to rebuild my bone density. Please resist the temptation to judge everybody who isn't you?

It’s not about being competitive. People don’t lift weights to compete with each other (unless you’re in a weight-lifting competition!) It’s about improving your fitness, building strong muscles, toning up etc. You’re not going to get those results if you don’t challenge yourself a bit

So as well as men watching them and judging them, women now have to watch out for women watching them and judging them?

None of your business whether people want to challenge themselves or not. Your not a personal trainer so your not there to tell them what to do, your there to do your own training and go home again and leave everyone else to do their own.

Reps with a smaller weight to tone rather than heavier to build big muscles.

Keep your beak out! None of your business what other women choose to lift!

There is a woman who goes to my gym who makes it her mission to lift the heaviest weights possible.

I don’t judge or watch people at the gym, but she is impossible to miss. Her routine consists of running from machine to machine to squat rack to bench, whilst dripping in sweat and her hair in her eyes.

She picks up dumbbells she can barely lift from the floor and proceeds to swing them around, maybe does a couple of half reps and then drops it and moves elsewhere.

I wish she wouldn’t. It’s only a matter of time before she injures herself - or someone else when she runs into them or drops a 30kg dumbbell on them.

So I think the women you see have the right idea.

Not everyone wants the same results as you. It’s simple.

Nasty post.

How exactly does it affect you, op?

I think you should just mind your own business.

I started lifting to rehab a back injury.
I tend to 4 sets of 12-15 reps on most exercises, so I'm not going to be lifting nearly as much as someone doing 6-8 reps per set. I'm on about 5-6kg bicep curls, as a marker.

I want to be strong enough, with a reasonable cardio, so I do lots of reps in a short time with a short rest period, and a lot of super-setting 2-3 exercises together so I don't have any full on "rest" time.

You don't have any idea what other people's training goals are, so it's kind of silly to comment. Maybe they aren't lifting as heavy as they could. I don't. But I lift to suit the goals I have for myself, and it works for me. If you have different goals, great, and I wish you every success in them.

🙄 I put that in my OP because I knew there’d be people saying “what about injury/I’m recovering from an injury” etc etc. but this is most of the women, consistently, over 6 months or so. They do not all have 6-month long injuries

This.

I work to my max or close to it, because that motivates me. I like to leave just a bit sore, very sweaty, and having gone up a couple of reps or a bit of weight on something.

There are people at my gym who are mostly there just for general fitness, they'll do a bit with weights because it's included in classes or they've seen their favourite influencers doing it, but it's not why they come to the gym.

There are others who are mostly there to socialise, or just to get out of the house, or in a few cases to try and find a girlfriend/boyfriend.

And for what it's worth, I don't just people-watch other women in the gym, everything I've written applies just as much to men (not all of whom are there to turn into Gymosaurus Rex)...

I just do my own thing and don’t pay attention to what other people are doing in the gym. Why do you care?