Girls & the gym (U.K)

[Jimbo1212]

(Only constructive or thought provoking ideas please, and remember, this is my experience and a generalisation)

In my experience of going to the gym for the last couple of years, I have noticed a trend and difference between why women and men go to the gym.


Guys go to the gym to "perfect" themselves.
They either want to improve from being normal and aim to be big, or go from being big to massive. The mentality is positive and ambitious.


However, girls go to "fix" themselves.
Many girls go to the gym because they are overweight and they have become so distressed at their image that they need to resolve the problem by simply becoming normal. Unlike guys, this attitude seems to be based around desperation.


So why don't both genders have a positive attitude to the gym and use it as a tool to perfection rather than a tool to fix themselves?
Or is this just something that is in the U.K and not in other countries?

 

[The Cor]

It goes both ways really; there also women who go to the gym to "perfect" themselves and there are also men who go to the gym to "fix" themselves.
When the reasons are broken down to the core they are in essence the same, everybody wants to look awesomesauce and be comfortable with their body. That is at least how I think about it.

 

[Jimbo1212]

It goes both ways really; there also women who go to the gym to "perfect" themselves and there are also men who go to the gym to "fix" themselves.
When the reasons are broken down to the core they are in essence the same, everybody wants to look awesomesauce and be comfortable with their body. That is at least how I think about it.

Well from my experience I would say 5% of guys go to drop weight (95% go to get massive), and 5% of girls go to get in shape, with 95% going to drop weight.
However, when the girls drop the weight, they then stop going. They don't want to look their best, they just don't want to look terrible, where as the guys want to look their best.

 

[Nickolai77]

The people i know who use a gym, mostly university students, all do it to improve their physical condition, irrespective of gender. Practically all of them have healthy weights and bodies, they just want to get fitter.

However, as i said these people are university students who i am friends with...so i doubt they are representative of the general population. I know one guy though, who's not a university student, who goes to the gym a lot and has become a bit of a stead-head. I know he has personal issues, so i sympathise with him.

From my personal experience i have not encountered what the OP describes, but note i do not frequent gyms.

 

[orangeban]

Eh, I blame the societal sexism. There, I said it, it was the elephant in the room, but I call it, it's sexism.

In today's cultural view we are told that REAL MEN are manly and muscly and are uber-strong and can benchpress hundreds of kilos. So sociey pressures men to become REAL MEN and coerces them into going to the gym and working on their six pack.

However, society also talks to women. Women are told that proper ladies are slim and toned, but not muscly. Same situation, women are coerced into becoming proper ladies and go to the gym.

Of course this isn't true for anyone, but I reckon's it's a valid reason for your observation.

 

[Roofstone]

Female.

I go to the gym to, as you so aptly, put it. "Perfect" myself, that, and I find it entertaining to exercise to some good music. But you're mostly correct I like to believe. Mostly.

The Cor put it pretty right I think. People want to be comfortable with their own self. =)

 

[Smooth Operator]

Holy shit mate, you better get your flame shield up

Seems to be a matter of interpretation, "fix" and "perfect" are the same thing just depends on how you want to see it.

 

[Jimbo1212]

Eh, I blame the societal sexism. There, I said it, it was the elephant in the room, but I call it, it's sexism.

In today's cultural view we are told that REAL MEN are manly and muscly and are uber-strong and can benchpress hundreds of kilos. So sociey pressures men to become REAL MEN and coerces them into going to the gym and working on their six pack.

However, society also talks to women. Women are told that proper ladies are slim and toned, but not muscly. Same situation, women are coerced into becoming proper ladies and go to the gym.

Of course this isn't true for anyone, but I reckon's it's a valid reason for your observation.

Well firstly, it is not society telling people what to look like but nature (read the papers on it, quite interesting stuff). And this is why I am confused. As I mentioned, men are following their instincts which is fine/normal/healthy, yet even though women know they should be slim and toned, many fail to do this and simply give up when they are no longer humongous. I would put this down to the UK's mentality with women and exercise as it goes against natural instinct along with people being insecure and not admitting that they could do better/give up early on.

Female.

I go to the gym to, as you so aptly, put it. "Perfect" myself, that, and I find it entertaining to exercise to some good music. But you're mostly correct I like to believe. Mostly.

The Cor put it pretty right I think. People want to be comfortable with their own self. =)

So why isn't everyone at the gym and why do so many women give up after going from fat to normal, rather than going from fat to "perfect" ? As I mention above, do you think it is insecurity and that the women are not honest with how they look?

 

[Jimbo1212]

Woops, double post.

 

[SckizoBoy]

The people i know who use a gym, mostly university students, all do it to improve their physical condition, irrespective of gender. Practically all of them have healthy weights and bodies, they just want to get fitter.

However, as i said these people are university students who i am friends with...so i doubt they are representative of the general population. I know one guy though, who's not a university student, who goes to the gym a lot and has become a bit of a stead-head. I know he has personal issues, so i sympathise with him.

From my personal experience i have not encountered what the OP describes, but note i do not frequent gyms.

This, pretty much.

Most of the gyms I've been to have been filled with relatively physically fit people, irrespective of gender. I went to 'fix' myself, despite there not being much to 'fix'. And OP seems to be under the impression that 'perfecting' from a male perspective is 'bulking up to be able to wrestle tigers naked'. Quite a few guys I know go to the gym for cardio. Hell, I went to the gym to build my stamina as well, so my weight work was, well, light.

 

[Pappeska]

Female, I go to the gym to keep fit, and because I enjoy lifting weights. Helthy body, healthy mind. If I'm anxious I can work it out, maybe that's considered fixing myself, I don't know and foesn't particularly care.

Isn't getting bigger muscles fixing? I know some guys who compplain about their lack of muscles, and they talk about going to the gym to fix this problem...

 

[The Cor]

Not everybody is at the gym because some people can be comfortable with their body, without it being excessively muscled. Also perfect is relative.

 

[Jimbo1212]

Not everybody is at the gym because some people can be comfortable with their body, without it being excessively muscled.

True, but I'm talking about people who are unhealthy and look bad (chubby/fat etc). Again, it has been proven that you can not be truly happy with your image in that state.

Female, I go to the gym to keep fit, and because I enjoy lifting weights. Helthy body, healthy mind. If I'm anxious I can work it out, maybe that's considered fixing myself, I don't know and foesn't particularly care.

Isn't getting bigger muscles fixing? I know some guys who compplain about their lack of muscles, and they talk about going to the gym to fix this problem...

In a sense, but the end result is being "perfect" (the best you can be). It is only "fixing" yourself if you are comparing yourself with someone who could not be physically better. The girls I have seen simply stop when they are no longer fat (not attractive though as they are far from toned)

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Could i just point out a flaw in your logic OP that "nobody is perfect".

 

[The Cor]

Not everybody is at the gym because some people can be comfortable with their body, without it being excessively muscled.

True, but I'm talking about people who are unhealthy and look bad (chubby/fat etc). Again, it has been proven that you can not be truly happy with your image in that state.

Simply put it is a lack of will/motivation to improve their physical state, but that is the simple explanation. Often there are underlying psychological reasons that cause people with some more flesh on their bones to not lose the weight.

 

[The Cor]

Bah double post.

 

[Jimbo1212]

Could i just point out a flaw in your logic OP that "nobody is perfect".

My point remains though.
Why do guys go to the gym to turn themselves from normal to great, where as many women want to turn themselves from bad to normal? It just seems that guys and women have a very different concept as to why the gym is there and when/what to use it for.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Could i just point out a flaw in your logic OP that "nobody is perfect".

My point remains though.
Why do guys go to the gym to turn themselves from normal to great, where as many women want to turn themselves from bad to normal? It just seems that guys and women have a very different concept as to why the gym is there and when/what to use it for.

Are you suggesting Women should "attain perfection"? because some consider "perfection" a possible option where as some don't seek such a thing since no body can ever be perfect or reach perfection.

 

[SextusMaximus]

It goes both ways really; there also women who go to the gym to "perfect" themselves and there are also men who go to the gym to "fix" themselves.
When the reasons are broken down to the core they are in essence the same, everybody wants to look awesomesauce and be comfortable with their body. That is at least how I think about it.

This exactly.
You often see girls who want massive muscles and big guys who want to shape down a bit, it really just varies.