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?

Okay then I will rephrase - why does it make you all so angry it people are doing it ‘wrong’ when it isn’t your time and money?

I don't think anybody has been particuarly angry on this thread? the grammar police maybe.
Personally I'm just a bit frustrated that the 'you need light weights to tone' myth won't die. We managed to get over 'women can't run marathons' or ' you can't take the train, your uterus will fly out', so how come this one is still so stubborn.

The grammar police are justifiably angry.

Seeing as each time I went for 5rm or supersetting to failure, never mind 1rm, it was invariably followed by the sensation of a (hopefully) partial tendon tear because my muscles weren't affected by the connective tissue vulnerability, I'll stick to piddly little things, thank you very much.

Well, to be accurate, I'll stick to machines rather than introducing enough instability to cause permanent damage long before I get to heavier weights.

Hopefully, you will never experience what those feel like, but if you're going full out to failure every time, possibly fuelled on by the group dynamic and innate competitiveness, that really isn't guaranteed.

Just think how much more the OP could lift if she wasn't carrying around the weight of her own sense of superiority.

My dad taught evening classes and had the same students for 15 years. They didn't need to go to the class, they didn't learn anything new after a year or so, but they enjoyed it, so they kept going.
Different people have different mindsets and reasonings.

I think it's cultural. Women in this country aren't encouraged to be competitive or push themselves particularly. I noticed this on park run, that much younger women were running so slow.

If you're doing Body Pump I wouldn't expect anyone to be using particularly high weights anyway, it's a high rep workout, so I reckon you're all good!

Well in addition to using teeny tiny weights, I am also a Parkrun slug, usually in the last 10 and regularly overtaken by people swiftly walking.

Maybe those women are running as fast as they are able, or maybe they are going at the pace of their friend to keep them company. Maybe it’s none of your business what speed someone else is going at and why should sport always be competitive anyway? Being competitive and having to go in teams is what put me off it when I was young, now I chase different goals like getting to my 250 Parkrun by the end of this year. I am slow but faster than those who don’t do it at all.

What a horrible attitude. Competition and 'pushing' shouldnt be highly rated

Women are pushing themselves all the bloody time actually, it never stops, so much demand and expectations and it still isnt enough apparently

The whole point of park run is that it isnt a competition and you do what is comfortable for you

This is exactly the attitude that stops people wanting to get out there and do something becuase of the judging and sneering

What are woman demanding and expecting?

I treat Park Run as a fun/social event and not a competition. My friends and I chat all the way around.

Apologies I’ve just reread and I think you meant demands and expectations on women? In which case I agree.

I have never heard anyone say that women can’t run or lift.

And this isn’t aimed at you but some of the other posters - hiding behind ‘concern’ is a pretty crappy thing to do.

if people are really concerned about the messages that women receive then by all means address that. But do it honestly.

its mean spirited and nasty to just slag these women off and it does discourage others from going.

I slipped a disc and ended up with nerve damage. Steroid injections and nerve blocks did nothing, constant physio and still in pain 2 years later. I wish I’d never set foot in a gym. I’m worse off than I was before and 2 stone heavier as I can’t do much now.

I have guidance. I had a PT with me. It was just one slight move that did it for me, very common the consultant told me.

What culture are you referring to where women are not encouraged to do this? Genuinely curious as where people are being told (presumably via the patriarchy) that they can’t compete.

The only ones standing in our way are other women and their nasty attitudes to those who aren’t as good or dedicated as they perceives themselves to be.

Exactly, no such thing as tone. Fat loss and muscle gain

So bang the drum about that - great. But ultimately people have many reasons for not wanting to increase weights etc

I go to bodypump. I lift heavy. Others don’t. Some will be due to injury, others just can’t be bothered. I make progress, they don’t. I see loads of women wasting time in the gym either light weights or endless cardio.

I think these classes are totally the wrong format for improvement. I also go to a free weights class with squat racks when the teacher encourages heavier lifting and in this set up women do lift heavier.

So I think the answer is that the class set up you describe is just not the right format for progress overload. It doesn’t give them the confidence or focus.

I do bodypump as well as strength training. Most people in my class lift quite light so I doubt it would be enough for improvements bone density or muscle. If you pushed yourself over time and really did increase the weight then yes. but you’d get better results in the gym. I see bodypump as mostly cardio.

My arms are weak as fuck. 2kg dumbbells absolutely would provide some resistance for bicep curls for me. HTH
Plus in group classes like that I would always go low weight high reps rather than high weight.

I'd stop worrying about eyeing up what other people are doing and start being aware of how much attitudes like yours stop people going to the gym in the first place.

Agree @MeridaBrave. Bodypump is designed to build muscular endurance. So Pump is light weights + high reps because that’s what builds muscular endurance (it also provides a bit of cardio as you say, especially when working the big muscle groups in squats and back work).

If people want their muscles to get bigger (hypertrophy), they need fewer reps and heavier weights than they’d use in Bodypump. And if they want to work on their pure strength, then it’s even heavier weights with even fewer reps.

A lot of people starting out in weight training don’t necessarily know about these different training protocols and their respective benefits, and they may not even be clear on what their own goals are. But maybe that doesn’t matter too much- any sort of movement or exercise is better than none. Some people never want to really push themselves physically and so be it. I might privately think they’re missing out because I know from years of instructing and coaching women in weight training, that pushing oneself can be so beneficial for women- especially our self image and our mental health (especially in middle age). But as an instructor, I don’t really ‘push’ my participants- I encourage them to make their own choices and adapt as needed- my aim is that everyone feels successful at the end- whatever that means to them personally. I will push those I know are wanting to progress.