“Confidence and Finding the Right Strength Training Environment for Women”
I am having more conversations with women over the age of 35 who are starting to find their way to strength training (Yay!), a lot of them for the first time. One driver of this tends to be a conversation with their physician at a checkup as they are starting to have some potential health issues arise. Side note: You should have a physician that understands strength training is important for longevity. Other women are seeking out strength training as a quest for body composition changes as they enter their perimenopausal years.
What I have found to be most alarming is the self talk and how these women perceive others see them. Most often they have successful careers, supportive families and friends and have raised and/or are currently raising children but yet when discussing their fitness, they become very self-deprecating, worried about how they will look around others in a group class, not being strong enough, not wanting to embarrass themselves or disappoint those around them.
As a confident 45-year-old woman, these conversations truly sadden me. We care so much about how other people perceive us or how society says we should look or feel at this age, etc. that we are afraid to start a positive lifestyle journey for ourselves because we are afraid of how people we don’t even know are going to see us?
I have never really cared what people I don’t know or who are not in my inner circle think about me or what I am doing. Any negativity towards that or lack of support I shrug off as their own insecurities projecting and I move on. I feel this is one of the key reasons I have been successful in my fitness and nutrition pursuit. From day one, I chose to do this for myself because I wanted to make a change in my life. I wanted to feel stronger, get out of a mental/emotional funk and truly change my lifestyle. My first group fitness experience was at age 36 in a very large class with much younger clients who consisted of highly competitive athletes who weren’t very welcoming. I spent two years going to that afternoon class. I finished last on almost every workout. I didn’t care. I was there to improve my own wellbeing and just kept showing up for myself. I was fortunate to find some like-minded female acquaintances along the way and we supported one another during that time. Ultimately, people came and went so I had to just keep showing up for myself and that’s just what I did.
Now, I can train anywhere, in any environment with anyone and just focus on me and why I’m there. This has taken time as well as finding the right support along the way.
I realize finding the right environment is important to women’s initial success. This is one of the reasons I started EmPower Fit. I saw a gap in large group class gyms where women who are just starting out lifting weights are getting lost in the shuffle of dropping barbells, loud music, and trainers who can’t accommodate their newness to strength training needs in that kind of setting just to name a few.
I take pride in pairing up the right training partners based on personality, goals, and training experience as well as programming workouts based on these goals and demographic. This way everyone feels included and supported. I believe this is how everyone’s training experience should be.
If you are looking for a supportive, women’s only small fitness group with a compassionate, empathetic trainer, let’s connect!