Therefore, inexperienced women wade through a vast amount of advice which appears to be, or is incorrectly presented as gender specific. Unsolicited assistance is oftentimes offered by men whom themselves lack the proper knowledge or capability to correctly apply information critical to making strength gains. Still, in the male dominated environment of a gym women regularly look to men for direction. We automatically assume our gender has little or nothing to offer and too frequently this assumption is correct. The guidance we DO receive from women seldom encourages the exploration of heavy iron.
Women undoubtedly struggle to identify with the image of size and strength.
Commercial gyms typically push the possibility of strength gains farther from women than conceivable. Its not uncommon for new female gym members to be sold blocks of time with personal trainers, most of whom look and sound like their certification was obtained directly from the back pages of the latest glossy magazine. Women are customarily walked through a generic, brief introduction to weight training which seldom addresses their specific strength goals. An extensive selection of high tech cardio contraptions and numerous specialized group classes entice us to abandon weight lifting further. Tempted by the glitz and glamour of equipment that feels familiar, women rarely choose to endure the awkwardness required to learn something as novel as lifting weights.