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?

And there are different class formats for that. Bodypump focuses on low weights and high reps (and is choreographed to music so everyone is doing the same number of reps- with their own choice of weight). I also teach Strength Development which is designed for hypertrophy and strength gains so the rep counts are much lower. We’re often doing only 8-12 reps of an exercise, or sometimes as few as 6, with lots of recoveries, so in that class I do encourage folks to go heavier, because otherwise there’s not much benefit to lifting light weights for so few reps. To get the gains the class offers, you’d need to be reaching fatigue by the last few reps of each set.

And of course if you just go in the gym, you lift whatever weights for however many reps you choose to do. I think that’s partly the OP’s point- she is describing a class format where there is a specific training protocol, so if someone wants to do lots of reps with 2kg dumbbells, maybe Pump is a more suitable class for them as it offers the sort of training they want to do.

Im pretty sure there’s more to the thread than the categories you’ve mentioned.

I would mainly say the same for body pump, the insane amount of reps means most people can't lift very heavy or progressively increase which is what drives muscle growth but at the end of the day it's movement and weight bearing and will definitely be doing some good and I have absolutely nothing to say about how other people go about their activities, I've had periods where I barely move at all so body pump would have been a million times better than that and will help condition a lot of people

I used to lift heavy weights and I deeply regret it. Even though I trained extremely carefully I damaged my back. I’m 60 now and still physically strong but I wish I’d been gentler on my body.

Absolutely! But your question is so judgy and unpleasant that you're mainly getting a hard time! By all means ask questions but if your thought process about the queston is essentially unpleasant, you're going to be found out

What business is it of yours? Maybe they don’t want to and are just going for fun!?! Worry about yourself, not everyone around you!

I mean, they could.

Doesn't mean they should.

Any why would they? To satisfy your odd standards?

Why don’t you ask them to their face if you are so interested?

I agree. I’ve had a personal trainer for nearly 30 years - I lack motivation so the PT keeps me on track and accountable. However I still go to gym classes because they are fun - I see friends, have a chat, show off a new haircut and meet up for a coffee after class. Everything doesn’t have to be a competition and challenging.

OP, your last sentence there finally hits it on the head:

Some things other people do are just a MYSTERY.

And unless you’re happy to go up to everyone you meet and ask them why they’re not doing things the exact way you would, part of life is accepting that sometimes we just. Don’t. Know.

Your ‘curiosity’ isn’t curiosity - it’s judgement dressed up.

Maybe you’d be happier working out alone?

I do pilates-based strength training using body weight resistance. It has significantly increased my strength and given me visible muscles.

Not all ‘strength-building’ exercise involves weights, although I know that’s the traditional description of it. And some women DO build an unwanted amount of muscle even with small weights. I’m one of them.

Some women who lift heavy like to peddle the opinion that you can’t protect your bones and build muscle just with body weight exercise, but I am living proof that they’re wrong!

@Bridgercam I do Pilates and weights, I frequently feel I’ve worked my muscles harder in Pilates, pure body weight, planks, push ups etc, than from the weights. I agree with a lot of what you say.

I’m much stronger now I am in my 50s than I was in my 40s. When I was walking a lot and doing Pilates. The weights have helped. I’m certainly not bulky!

the strongest I’ve been was in my late 20s and early 30s when I regularly went climbing, outside and at a climbing gym….pure body weight.

New strength training converts are so annoying. I’ve never heard long distance runners slagging off people who run 5k.

I have been strength training over the last 3 years or so and I have plateaued on the level of weights I have been using. I may or may not move up to heavier weights as I continue training. But if I just continue to maintain my good level of strength while listening to podcasts and getting my heart pumping who gives a fuck? A lot of strength trainers are in it to burn a few calories and maintain strength to improve longevity. We don’t all want to enter power lifting competitions.

I'm also seeing on the other side of it there's judgement towards women who are fit, lift weights and have a physique that other women describe as unattractive, unfeminine or undesirable (ie visible muscle). That's what I look like. I was judged when I was overweight and unfit and now I'm judged as a slim, fit woman who lifts and has done fitness racing. I don't particularly care, other women's opinions of what I look like are of no consequence to me and the idea that I'm going to change the way I train because Jane at the gym who I barely know thinks my shoulders are masculine looking or whatever is laughable, and if I overheard Jane she'd be told to keep her bitchy comments to herself. But it does affect some people.

Women can't win really can we? And we're our own worst enemies. Get fit and other women sneer at how you look or make assumptions about what kind of person you are. Stay unfit and other women sneer at you for that. Try and get a bit fitter and other women sneer at you for not making enough effort.

You have no idea if they have injuries. I go to strength classes and have a permanent injury. I go to the classes to tone up and to hopefully keep my body moving as I age.
We all lift different weights.
We do have someone like you at the classes who has to have the biggest weight then huffs and puffs the whole class, can't gently put the weights down. Gives others the side eye. Lifting a weight too heavy and 'powering through' actually causes damage, it doesn't build muscle or strength.

Makes me realise what it must be like for men if this is what what the women are like about weights.

I think it depends on what class you’re at.

For example, I go to a Body Pump once a week. I also weight train in the gym. I use much heavier weights in the gym than I do at Body Pump, for various reasons - I do sets and reps in the gym which are controlled and much heavier - focusing on form etc. For example I weigh 57KG and can barbell squat 51KG (which I have worked my way up to). During Body Pump I squat with about 15KG. This is because you are doing in excess of 100 squats for the whole length of a song.

I did a Body Pump class last week which included about 30 “clean and presses”. Increased my weight and then hurt both shoulders which took a week to clear up. This is because the rep count was too high for a heavier weight. I won’t be making that mistake again.

There are women in my class who use heavier weights than me, but I’m the only person (men included) who are doing tricep dips with my legs out straight. Everyone has different strengths/goals/body composition, so there’s usually a reason for it.

We should be cheering for everyone who is getting up and being active to the best of their current ability. If that’s a 5 minute walk great if it’s the worlds strongest women also great.

I've been to the gym this morning and lifted weights ranging from 10k to 35kg, then I did some squats and some core exercises, then I walked five miles in the sunshine and had a really nice coffee. Now I feel great and am going to give myself the gift of staying offline for the rest of the day 😅

Sounds lovely - a coffee is always a part of my routine

My parents are in their early 80’s. They spend the spring and summer at their home on the Belgian coast. Every morning they go for a walk on the beach and then meet friends for a coffee. Neither have ever set foot in a gym but are fit and healthy.