Read more Be Well.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\nThere\u2019s also still a stigma about women lifting weights, Bradley said. Told for years that being skinny is the ultimate goal, some falsely believe strength training will make them look bulky.<\/p>\n
Schoenfeld said few women need to worry about building too much muscle because it\u2019s hard for anyone to gain a significant amount \u2014 especially women, who have lower levels of the muscle-building hormone testosterone. And it\u2019s easy to reduce training intensity if you don\u2019t like the results, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s very, very easy to lose muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n
What gyms and women can do about it<\/p>\n
Months after her initial bad impression, Bradley shared her strength-training goals with a male weightlifter in her dorm, who showed her the bodybuilding ropes. The boost inspired her to found Girl Gains, a female weightlifting club that now has dozens of chapters at colleges across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther things get shoved down our throats, like Pilates and cardio and yoga, but they complement each other,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cBeing stronger in the gym is going to help you progress in Pilates. Having muscle is going to help make you a faster, better runner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women embarking on strength training should do so with an empowering and realistic message, advocates say. <\/p>\n
Complementary introductory training sessions can help, but a cursory introduction from a trainer in a revealing outfit won\u2019t, said Segar. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost women have tried to achieve the perfect body for decades, and it only leads to a sense of failure,\u201d she said. Instead of focusing on how the exercise makes them feel, they\u2019re thinking about how they\u2019re being perceived.<\/p>\n
Women who find community in the weight room work together on their own targets, getting stronger and pushing themselves, Bradley said. \u201cOne of the things we always say is, \u2018The gains look good on you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s gyms and child care<\/p>\n
Some women find they can focus better on their workout when men aren\u2019t around.<\/p>\n
At the women-only Goddess Gym in Peterborough, England, Charlie Sturgeon said she\u2019s happier than she was in mixed-sex gyms where she had \u201csome quite weird experiences where people would just stare, pull faces, make comments. And here, with being women only, it just feels like there\u2019s a sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some gyms try to make women more comfortable by offering day care on site.<\/p>\n
Michelle Kozak of Phoenix, who has two young children, canceled her membership when her gym stopped offering child care. <\/p>\n
And she isn\u2019t comfortable with hard-core gym culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to make the gym my entire personality,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to have some time to prioritize being healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
____<\/p>\n
AP journalist Cheyanne Mumphrey in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
____<\/p>\n
EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at https:\/\/www.albertstumm.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During her first year of college, Elisabeth Bradley was inspired to try weightlifting after she followed a woman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[8011,43045,12988,1374,180322,180325,18,180326,525,135,19,17,3521,180324,180323,968,68804],"class_list":{"0":"post-396271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-az-state-wire","10":"tag-be-well","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-charlie-sturgeon","13":"tag-daisy-arauza","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-elisabeth-bradley","16":"tag-fitness","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-lifestyle","21":"tag-michelle-kozak","22":"tag-michelle-segar","23":"tag-new-york","24":"tag-physical-fitness"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116266060043476250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}