Free weights and women

Great article in the Guardian yesterday – ‘free weights and women’.

It talks about how free weights areas can be intimidating places where big sweaty men make lots of noise. A couple of things about that preconception and a Forefront Fitness gym.

First of all – our free weights only go up to 25kg per dumbbell – that’s about 4 stone – for everyone that uses our gyms – that’s enough.  We have had one or two very big men come and have a look round and they have said that the gym is not for them because the weights aren’t heavy enough. 

Secondly – our gyms are friendly places where you are more likely to see a big man helping a woman with the pin in the cable machine than watching him sweat and preen.  Don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of very strong men in our gyms – but their lifting form is good and they don’t feel the need to grunt!

We have a zero tolerance on drugs and would never recommend drug support to bulk up.

We also have many women in our gyms who know how to lift appropriate sized weights.  They lift weights that help them to build strong muscles that burn calories way after the weight session has finished. 

So, using advice from the NHS the recommendation is to use bodyweight and resistance exercises to ‘build muscle, reduce the risk of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes’.  In fact a study by Evans & Rosenburg in 1991 suggested a link between amount of muscle and longevity. 

So, come along to a Forefront Fitness gym a book a Forefront Fitness Personal Trainer and learn how to lift – you could be doing yourself all sorts of favours.