"No Gurlz Alowd!" - The Weight Room

   There she is! Whoops, there she goes. A quick peak around the door and off goes another gym-goer, choosing the security of the machines and the elliptical over the iron. And who wouldn't? The weight room has to appear to be, easily, the most injury-prone, humbling, and defeating place in the gym. Why go stand nervously over a sweaty bench, with a pair of dumbells that are either too heavy or too light but sounded like a good idea at the rack, wondering if you really do know how to do a chest flye, when you can sit on a comfortable machine in the nice room over there, wrapped in the confidence of the machine's arms while it guides you through the chest flye? Even worse, what if you're a woman thinking about the weight room? Ohhh, has there ever been a more stereotypical boys club than the weight room?! For years, I would stick my head around the door, see the buff, aggressive young men throwing weights around like cavemen, pounding their chest, every once in a while punching each other out till a victor was named, than baring their teeth like studly silverbacks. Ok, I made that up, but as far as I was concerned, that's exactly how it was in that man-cave. If the room was empty, I'd squirrel in, tentatively touching plates and weights, examining racks, wondering what the hell it all did and why there were a thousand of them. Why was this bench bent, and that one under that bar? Oh, I get it, those bent bars go with the bent benches, and the straight bars with the straight benches! Right?  And the pulleys! What?! The leg press machine looked like slow death, or a human panini press. I'd think of giving it a shot, then remember I hadn't written a will yet. Suddenly, someone would walk in, and that was the end of that. I'd wipe the fake sweat from my brow, and strut out of there like a pro. It doesn't help that the men in the weight room seem to be staring at any woman in there. There's a thousand mirrors in those rooms, its pretty obvious when someone's being watched.
   But now the weight room is my friend, my best friend. Like the misunderstood, giant kid on the playground, it may look foreboding, but it has a good heart. What happened? Well, I learned how to use it. I had trainers show me, I had my husband show me, I studied its internal workings and theories, and I stood in there and watched. The benefits of the weight room are as solid as its appearance. In fact, while it may be the least visited room in the gym, it is arguably the most valuable. Free weight training focuses on closed kinetic chain exercises, utilizing the entire body for work. Machines are primarily tools for open kinetic chain exercises that isolate a muscle. Most people benefit more from CKC exercises, and resistance training increases fat burn. But, as usual, I digress. While I was doing all this, I began to realize that the weight room is not only scary for women, its even more terrifying for men. You see, the reasons most men stare when a woman walks into the weight room is:
    A) They now feel the need to look good, and that may make them think, "Oh, crap!"  However tired that last set made them, however many curls they already did, now they can't show it. They want to impress. Testosterone is streaming through their veins from lifting, and their instincts cause them to ruffle their plumage and strut their stuff, whether they feel like it or not.
    B) They're terrified you may know more/lift more then they do and that they're doing an exercise wrong. No one wants to be watched through someone else's peripheral vision and wonder if they're looking ridiculous.
   C) They're impressed. Women don't make many appearances in the weight room, so a woman who does obviously holds her own, and that is impressive.
  What makes it more terrifying for men? Well, traditionally, men "belong" in the weight room. But who showed them how to use it? Odds are, most men have little or no training in the weight room. Walking in there, and either not being able to lift heavy or not knowing your stuff is a humiliating prospect for men. Men have judged their manliness by feats of strength for eons, so being a lightweight in the weight room is tantamount to being the loser.
   So, don't be intimidated by the weight room. Utilize it. Embrace it, it needs a hug. No one is laughing at you, in fact, they're cheering you on. No one in there was born buff, and if you ask, they'd be more than happy to help or spot or just share a conversation. The fact alone that you are in the weight room shows your commitment to being healthy and fit, and only an idiot would scorn that. Trainers don't mind taking a minute to walk you through an exercise, and there are equipment orientations at most gyms. You can even do what I do, and bring your study materials into the weight room and practice. I have yet to be laughed at. Now, I've had a few instances of jerkiness, but everyone else in the room thought that person was a jerk too. Can't judge an orchard for a few bad apples. Go empower yourself, connect with your raw, animal side and throw some iron around. :)
I'll leave you with one of my favorite Terry Crews Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra1N7Fyggyc.