About a year\u00a0ago, I was feeling a little restricted by the gym I was using,\u00a0so I\u00a0decided to check out the new Gold’s Gym in our neighborhood.\u00a0\u00a0Gold’s was housed in\u00a0a biiiiig, two story building: all shiny and new, with lots of shiny new equipment too.\u00a0\u00a0I especially liked the free weight area, which was bigger and better equipped than the one I was using.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u00a0got a little\u00a0annoyed, however, when the sales dude giving me\u00a0the tour pointed out the\u00a0private,\u00a0“women’s only” fitness room to me.\u00a0 I gave him my best “You Have Got<\/strong> To Be Yanking Me” glare,\u00a0 and told him I\u00a0had exactly ZERO interest in using it.\u00a0 He was appropriately chagrined,\u00a0and hastened to\u00a0explain the room was there for their female members who\u00a0felt “more comfortable” using separate facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unfortunately, he was right.\u00a0 After I joined, I\u00a0saw women – most of them middle aged (like me!)\u00a0– going in and out of there on a regular basis.\u00a0\u00a0I didn’t blame Gold’s\u00a0– they’re a business, after all, and it was apparently what some women wanted.\u00a0 As the number of “women’s only” fitness facilities\u00a0attest,\u00a0there are plenty of women who\u00a0feel uncomfortable\u00a0working out\u00a0around men.<\/p>\n For the\u00a0love of\u00a0God, why???\u00a0 I’m quite conscious of the fact that sexism exists.\u00a0 I’ve lived some of it, first hand.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, I’ve\u00a0rarely seen it in the weight room.\u00a0 In all the years I’ve been lifting,\u00a0I’ve been hassled exactly once – and the gym management dealt with it.\u00a0\u00a0C’est la vie.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0reality is that even the biggest, strongest\u00a0men who could lift me with one hand have always treated me with respect.\u00a0 I’ve never had any problems working in with the guys on some common piece of equipment.\u00a0 None of them\u00a0have\u00a0ever refused to give me a spot, or hesitated to show me some exercise variation they’re doing that caught my eye.\u00a0 Bodybuilders, powerlifters, or just average joes – they’re all pretty easy to get along with.\u00a0 Some of ’em are pretty easy on the eyes, too. \ud83d\ude09\u00a0<\/p>\n So why\u00a0do some women feel uncomfortable?\u00a0\u00a0They’re\u00a0afraid of\u00a0looking awkward and out of place.\u00a0 They don’t want to be judged for doing it “wrong.”\u00a0 They don’t want to\u00a0feel weak or clumsy.\u00a0 Evidently it’s easier to deal with those feelings by…not dealing with them at all, and retreating into self-segregated communities of other women who feel the same way.<\/p>\n But self-segregation comes at a cost: I have yet to see the “women’s only” workout facility or program that didn’t translate into “watered down.”\u00a0 The room at Gold’s, for example, didn’t have a dumbbell over 15 pounds, for heaven’s sakes.\u00a0 If\u00a0a\u00a0women’s-only\u00a0set up\u00a0helps\u00a0you “break the ice,” then\u00a0great –\u00a0if\u00a0you’re\u00a0a beginner,\u00a0you should do whatever it takes to get started.\u00a0 Over the long term, however, it’s no way to grow, or truly develop\u00a0your potential for fitness and strength (and leanness!).\u00a0 For that, it takes being in a real gym, using real weights.<\/p>\n The reality is that most\u00a0men\u00a0won’t pay\u00a0the least bit of attention to what you do in the free weight area, unless you do something to violate “gym etiquette,” such as interrupt someone in the middle of a set, roost on a piece of equipment, and so on.\u00a0 They’re focused on their own work, so no one is going to point, laugh or stare – or even think – about you.<\/p>\n Just for the sake of argument though, let’s pretend that they do.\u00a0 Does that really matter?\u00a0 Does the sky fall if people look at you?\u00a0 Do their thoughts actually hurt you?<\/p>\n In the end, what do you care what other people think?<\/p>\n I don’t.\u00a0 And I really have had people stare at me, too, at times.\u00a0 My old gym was in the city Rec Center, and had glass walls, so people walking past would often stop and look in.\u00a0 And if I\u00a0happened to be\u00a0working in the vicinity, then they’d look straight at me.\u00a0 Sometimes it was impossible not to: my ex-trainer used to give me some pretty strange exercises to do, like hopping up and down the stairwell on one leg at a time, as fast as I could;\u00a0or doing weighted speed jumps on the benches outside the gym.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I even had an entire tour group stop\u00a0to watch\u00a0me\u00a0while I was doing cleans.\u00a0 I have no idea what they thought of me.\u00a0 Personally I thought it was kinda funny, and didn’t mind putting on a “show” at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n I used to do drama\/musicals when I was younger, so this video made me smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n [youtube:http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dkYZ6rbPU2M]<\/p>\n It has nothing to do with exercise or fitness, of course, but it illustrates the point:\u00a0so what if people think you look\u00a0silly?\u00a0 Having other people\u00a0stare at you, or think\u00a0that you’re weird\u00a0isn’t traumatic.\u00a0 And – needless to state –\u00a0lifting weights alongside other people who are also lifting weights is a lot less “weird” than breaking into song in the middle of a mall food court.\u00a0<\/p>\n In other words, no one’s actually going to look at or bother you, but you don’t have to let it stop you if they do: win-win.<\/p>\n Sure,\u00a0if you’re new to lifting weights, it\u00a0will feel strange at first, and you do want to get it right to avoid injury.\u00a0 There is,\u00a0 however, a ton of good info available, so it shouldn’t be hard to put together a list of exercises, and make an appointment with a trainer to walk you through them.\u00a0 The awkward feeling will vanish quickly enough, and you’ll be on your way…no need to hide in the “women’s room.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About a year\u00a0ago, I was feeling a little restricted by the gym I was using,\u00a0so I\u00a0decided to check out the new Gold’s Gym in our neighborhood.\u00a0\u00a0Gold’s was housed 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