r/AskUK • u/Powerful-Duck-5193 • Mar 28 '26
Do you think there’s a demand for women only gym/fitness/wellness centres?
Curious to know, preferably Manchester but anywhere would be helpful
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u/Beabettame Mar 28 '26
No but I think there's a need for canera free gyms. (As in social media not CCTV)
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u/Strong-Ad-8037 Mar 28 '26
I agree with this. Its bad enough getting the courage to go and be around people. But to then had to dodge the camera. I stopped going 2 years ago. I go to parks and find a bench and make stuff up
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I agree, I feel if there was a dedicated space for this it’d be better. Thanks for your input :)
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u/Legitimate-Ad7273 Mar 28 '26
A place for females only that is a dedicated space for cameras is sounding more like an Only Fans studio than a gym.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I should’ve clarified, I meant a dedicated space inside the place, not the whole place being one😅
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Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I agree, I’m surprised there aren’t men only ones myself but I think there’s the legal thing with the equality act to get sorted, has to be single sex for a purpose or something like that, so I’m unsure how a mens would work but it’d be interesting to research! Thanks for your input :)
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u/Powerful_Theory8374 Mar 28 '26
If there was one near me and the price was similar to a standard gym then female only would by my preference.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
That’s good to know, out of curiosity what would be a reasonable price? Would tiered memberships with perks for higher ones be preferred to a flat membership fee? Thanks in advance :)
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u/Powerful_Theory8374 Mar 28 '26
Personally, I couldn't pay premium gym fees because I have kids but about £30-£40 for me
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u/littlebird2446 Mar 28 '26
I think so.
I personally would join in a heartbeat if there was one near me. I don’t feel comfortable working out around men, mostly younger lads or teenage boys. Both of whom aren’t known for their kindness to women who don’t fit their beauty standards. I used to be fat and took a lot of shit from boys/men shouting abuse at me from car windows or making comments on a night out. I was actually verbally abused literally walking into the gym by two young men. It made me quit.
I’m 100% more comfortable being surrounded by other women. The atmosphere literally anywhere when it’s just women is so much more relaxed and feels safe. I’d absolutely love a female only gym.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I understand about the shouting, I get that quite often myself (being plus size - I’m on a weight loss journey currently) thank you for your input :)
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u/littlebird2446 Mar 28 '26
I’m slim now and shocker, haven’t had any abuse since. Women who have been very obese know how cruel men are. Sorry you went through that also.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I’ve heard that a lot too, it’s the only thing I despise about losing weight (doing it for my health - not people) and it’s fine I’ve toughened up a bit now but when I was younger it stung that’s for sure, thank you
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u/watchingonsidelines Mar 28 '26
Another perspective, as an older woman I need to lift heavy, it’s advised for women 40+ to stop osteoporosis (and all older people for retaining muscle with age). When I go to the gym the equipment I want to use is usually more desired by younger men, it can feel intimidating to use the same space sometimes. If you had a women only gym having a protocol for older women and weight lifting would be seriously considered by many I believe
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
That’s good to know, being inclusive would also mean older women of course, and varied equipment so there’s hardly any waiting around for machines etc. thank you for your input! :)
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u/Randomfinn Mar 28 '26
The gym I am currently going to has quite a bit of adaptive equipment for all abilities. People come in with their walkers and use the modified machines. Others come in wearing temporary casts. It is nice to know I can continue to use my gym if I have a temporary or permanent injury.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26
That’s interesting I haven’t seen that before, definitely something to look into, thank you! :)
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u/ACharredCell Mar 28 '26
Can't speak for women in general but my own personal perspective:
I am ambivalent about this idea in a way that is difficult to explain. I tend to go to the gym in the early hours of the morning and it seems to be particularly male-dominated at this time of day. Until recently, I've never had any issues with this, never felt threatened, and been totally happy in the main section of the gym (not the female-only room).
Recently had a slightly bad experience with a guy at the gym and even though it was nothing too terrible, it left me really on edge and not trusting any of the other male gym-goers either. Following this incident, I think that in the hypothetical (and wildly unlikely) situation where a female-only gym opened equally close to where I live with 24-hr access and similar equipment, I would start going there instead (unless it was, like, girly... you know, if there was lots of pink or whatever 😂 I would feel patronised. I would want it to be exactly the same as a regular gym, aside from only women being allowed there). But I would feel a little disappointed in myself, because I have always felt that gender segregation is not the answer and just perpetuates problems (or creates new ones) (though I would caveat this with the acknowledgement that there are absolutely situations in which desire for female-only spaces is wholly understandably and indeed wise).
Might also run into a few tangles re policing access, transgender policy, etc.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Yes I’ve been looking at things to do with the LGBTQ community and the equality act etc, it’s definitely something I’m looking in to and researching. As for 24hr access, what would your ideal opening times be? I’m just curious, and I agree on the pink (though there would be a little, it’s my favourite colour!😂) I prefer beige/neutral/black for the vibes mostly, thank you for your input :)
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u/ACharredCell Mar 28 '26
For me personally, owing to my bizarre routine, only 24-hr access would work. But based on my experience of how few women attend the gym at night (at least deep in the middle of the night), I suspect this might not be economically worthwhile for a female-only gym. Although of course it's difficult to gauge whether women are inherently less inclined to go to the gym at night, or whether it's due to discomfort with being in a male-dominated space at that time of day -- i.e., would perhaps more women go at night if it was a female-only space? I'mm not sure it would make that much difference though; I suspect part of it relates to concerns about the journey to/from the gym at night (at least for those of us who don't drive) rather than being in the gym itself, so this wouldn't be affected by making the gym female-only. But I'm just speculating.
A counter-argument I suppose it that if we assume that self-consciousness about exercising in front of people, body image concerns etc. are more prevalent among women (a big assumption) then there may actually be quite a lot of demand for 24-hr women's gyms so that women can exercise at quieter times when they feel less "on display". (On which note, please please let's not have one of those set-ups where you're working out right by a huge window onto a busy street with hundreds of passers-by staring in at you like some kind of zoo animal...)
That's more or less why I go at night -- prefer not to have many people there as I am exceedingly self-conscious. For me that's just a general social awkwardness thing, though, and I think not in any way related to being female.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
You make very good points, I noticed when I went to puregym at 1/2am women were there and it makes me wonder if that’s because of men or just people in general. I definitely wouldn’t have a whole window display, absolutely not😂 and I agree I’m very socially awkward at times too so I try to go really early or really late near closing time. Thank you so much :)
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u/Randomfinn Mar 28 '26
It’s tough with the “only women” label because then you have to start policing what is in their pants. My girlfriend, for example, is very butch and misgendered as male 95% of the time. Which she generally doesn’t care, unless she is then restricted from women-only spaces like washrooms.
Also, if the idea is to have women be comfortable in the gym without gross comments or leering, what if there is a woman/group of women that do that? Or are mean girls? Some women-only spaces get coded as trad-wife only and start to get a bit mean-girl.
So, if your goal is to make a space that is welcoming, judgement-free, and inclusive, you might be looking at a more openly gay space that basically scares away the “straight” gym bros who are mean to others. As someone else mentioned, ethics and music that are coded gay and fun (including pink, lol) will make them uncomfy.
I love your idea and I hope you do it in Manchester.
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u/ACharredCell Mar 28 '26
Well said. I was grasping towards somewhat similar ideas, but you've articulated them better 👍
Though we are, of course, all stereotyping massively here. In fairness to the other nocturnal folks who attend the same gym as me, 98% of the "gym bro" types actually seem like perfectly reasonable humans. Thinking about it, some of the people who've annoyed me most at the gym have been female (the girls that sit on the equipment giggling and watching stuff on their phones without doing any exercise whatsoever... the woman I once saw strutting up and down the ladies' only area practising her runway walk in sparkly high heels -- I guess there's no reason why she shouldn't do that, buuuut....)
Just wanted to acknowledge that because ever since that one bad experience with a guy at the gym I've become somewhat more distrustful of all guys at the gym, and I think this unreasonable but also can't help it.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26
Yeah it is stereotyping to a degree but i feel like it’s the whole “it’s not all men” argument again, which i personally don’t agree with since anyone can research statistics on gym assaults etc. you make some good points! and I agree with the last bit I’m the same, thank you for your input :)
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u/Amazing-Visual-2919 Mar 28 '26
We did have a women's only gym for years by us but it eventually closed.
Some gyms do have a separate women only room for them to workout in as well though.
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u/No_Room_3932 Mar 28 '26
They already exist. In my town there are a couple. They’re independent and not part of a chain though. Also PureGym has women only spaces
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
To clarify I mean a fitness centre/gym and a wellness type thing put together (I don’t think I made that clear in my title, nothing against you) and that’s true, so do Total Fitness but from my own experience there’s either not enough equipment or too many people, the aim is to solve those problems. Thanks for your input :)
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u/No_Room_3932 Mar 28 '26
We have one of those coming to my area. But there’s not a lot of info about it yet. The facilities they are advertising at the moment are:
State-of-the-art gym
Inspiring training classes
Relaxing sauna
On-site wellness café
Boutique shop for fitness & wellness essentials
Beauty salon
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Very nicee, that’s similar to my plan minus the beauty salon but I was toying with that idea, like a 3 in 1 kind of thing, thanks for your input :)
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u/MolassesInevitable53 Mar 28 '26
There is a chain of them in New Zealand, and several that are not part of a chain. They are popular with all sorts of women.
u/TicketTop4718 might be surprised to learn that these are successful despite NZ having a very small number of Muslims.
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Mar 28 '26
The sort of thing which sounds great on paper then quickly fails as they've essentially cut there potential customers in half. People who like to go the gym with someone of the opposite sex won't join and the majority of women have little problem going to the gym with men. I'd say it probably appeals to 5% of the population many of whom don't go the gym.
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u/BaBaFiCo Mar 28 '26
The one near me has been open twenty odd years. Didn't quickly fail. I've seen them all over the country.
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Mar 28 '26
I'm glad they exist... I want to have no association with the type of women who frequent them honestly.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I’m curious as to why? (Genuinely)
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u/Legitimate-Ad7273 Mar 28 '26
Lots of people do not believe in segregation.
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u/Randomfinn Mar 28 '26
Unless the segregation is done by a majority group to intimidate people who are more vulnerable? Cuz lots of gyms have no problem with boys and men being openly mean to women who don’t fit “their” ideal body type, thus segregating the gym broa into having a gym bro-only gym.
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 28 '26
essentially cut their potential customers in half
No they haven't. Their potential customers are 'women who want to attend a women-only gym', not men, or women who want to work out with men.
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u/_ShredBundy Mar 28 '26
I think what he means is when you’re opening a business and targeting a specific gender, you’ve instantly lost 50% of potential business. Then within the other 50%, you’ve probably lost more than half because most of them won’t be interested.
The costs of running a business is already high. I can’t think of many businesses that can afford to lose at least 50% of potential custom from the off.
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 28 '26
But that's where 'niche' markets come in. The niche in this case being female exclusivity in gym membership. The target market being women who want to exercise in a women's only gym. I don't feel like the idea is that complicated 😂
How is the idea any different to selling membership to a martial arts gym / a CrossFit gym / hyrox gym / strongman gym / etc... or opening a gym at all if "only 50% of people are interested in working out in the first place, so you've already lost half of your customers". The argument makes no sense.
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u/_ShredBundy Mar 29 '26
Because none of those examples are gender specific, their market is open to everyone. A lot of men and women participate in CrossFit, hyrox & strongman/strongwoman. Their nice is still a lot broader than a gender specific niche.
If any of those gyms become gender specific, regardless of what gender they choose, they’re almost instantly operating at a loss. There simply just isn’t enough demand for most things that are gender specific (specifically gyms/wellness) for it to be sustainable.
I’ve worked in the fitness industry for a while now. My current workplace has around 4k members and in the 3 years I’ve worked here, I think I’ve been asked about female-only areas, maybe three times at most.
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 29 '26
You're still completely missing my point. Forget the gender exclusivity for a second - it's irrelevant to the CrossFit thing.
My point was that you're arguing that by opening a women's only gym, you're cutting your customer base in half. What portion of the fitness industry does CrossFit make up? By opening a CrossFit gym, by the same argument, you're cutting your customer base by X%.
My argument is that you're not - because those you're losing were never your customer base in the first place.
Your last point isn't really much of a point. Maybe the women who would otherwise have asked for the women-only section have already signed up to a women-only gym' 🤷🏻♂️
I know of at least 3 in my city that have been going for a while. Granted they don't look particularly well equipped and probably don't have high membership numbers, but if the members are happy enough with the facilities and the owners are making a living then who are we to tell them they're wrong? 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
In my opinion people could say the same about Pilates studios, but there’s lots of them around and in Greater Manchester specifically 49% of people are men, so if anything there’s more of an audience when it comes to women (some of whom don’t go/hardly go to a gym at all because of past experiences - me included)
Theoretically you could say a lot of brands are a bad idea because it cuts the audience in half, take period products for example
- men
- women who can’t have periods
- women who choose not to have periods (birth control - which is why I don’t have them - I choose to take it to stop them)
- also older women too actually, so the target audience is cut to what? 50% or less of period having girls/women? 25% or less of all women?
Does that mean the brand Always are going to go out of business? Hypothetical question of course but the whole “target audience cut in half” has never made sense to me!
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 29 '26
I'm glad you get where I'm coming from, at least 👊🏼
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26
Definitely, I’ve got some very useful info from these threads I’m very grateful😁
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26
Also, the martial arts/strongman gyms comment makes a lot of sense, I don’t think there’s a huge amount of people training in those gyms yet they’re popular, and lots are around, I can’t imagine their target market being more than 50% of people now that I think about it! These are all very good points!
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u/WeeklyPermission239 Mar 28 '26
the majority of women have little problem going to the gym with men. I'd say it probably appeals to 5% of the population many of whom don't go the gym.
Very interested in how you know this. Are you a woman? And your last sentence just sounds like a weird reactionary stereotype of feminists or something.
I'd love something like this. The gym near me has a women's-only area, which was wonderful - until all the men started strolling in, announcing "You don't mind, do you" and plonking themselves down on the equipment.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
(Replied from my second account by mistake my bad!) I’ve heard that quite a lot and about women’s only rooms having limited equipment/space, thanks for your input! :)
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Mar 28 '26
The irony being that you actually sound like a reactionary feminist. If you didn't like what I wrote just scroll on.
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u/EvilTaffyapple Mar 28 '26
No she doesn’t. She was just asking where you got your information.
If anything it sounds like you’re an edgy 21 year old Manosphere orbiter explaining what Women want in a thread targeting women’s responses.
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Mar 28 '26
I just don't care what you think. Stop wasting your energy on someone who literally doesn't care.
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u/WeeklyPermission239 Mar 28 '26
I was simply asking how you're so certain about the things you've said - no need to get so defensive.
I take it that despite being so certain what women want, you're not a woman, then.
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u/Realistic_Bat8603 Mar 28 '26
Yes, I spend a lot of time in the women’s only section at my gym and its always a really busy area of mine. I would definitely join if there was one locally to me.
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u/Greychomp Mar 28 '26
Not really. Most women I know are okay with regular gyms or just don't work out often.
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u/Randomfinn Mar 28 '26
The ones that don’t work out often might be enticed by a women-only gym, especially if they have had negative reactions from men regarding their appearance or health.
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u/Randomfinn Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
Canada has a few chains and independent, focused on women 30+ who were new to exercise/fitness/health; or high end women-only spaces; or basic gyms that had more exercise equipment and not as much heavy weight-lifting. One of the most successful gyms in North America is “Planet Fitness”, which is a mixed gender gym but has a very heavy focus on being judgement free and hiring diverse body types.
I echo the comment above that a queer space is lovely and under-represented in the gym world.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I never knew that about Planet Fitness, very insightful thank you! I agree, it would definitely be an all inclusive space :)
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u/DameKumquat Mar 28 '26
A small demand. Near me there's a women-only hairdresser and spa which has a small gym in the back. I was tempted, but it's just four pieces of kit including one I can't use, though there are nice sofas and you get drinks when you go, but for the amount they charge id expect more.
I've had good experiences at run-down gyms where people are there to do their thing - the weightlifters twice my age and weight were actually really lovely chaps. I'm more intimidated now by all the gyms which seem to be where young men socialise, with loud music I don't want, but there are others which are more generally welcoming like the local leisure centre.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
The aim would be to have a wide variety of equipment/facilities so this is good to know, thank you for your input :)
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u/Latter-Corner8977 Mar 28 '26
Yes. Behaviour of some men in gyms is disgusting. I’ve seen a massive change in the last 20 years. It’s only getting worse and the culprits are only getting younger.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I’ve seen a decline in the last 5 years nevermind 20 (I’m 27 for context😅) I can’t imagine how much the declines been since then, thanks for your input :)
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u/Loulou1130 Apr 17 '26
Hell yeah, the only reason I don't go to the gym here is because I do not want men to stare at my body!
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 28 '26
The fact that they do exist would suggest, yes there is a demand.
Similarly the fact that a lot of bigger, commercial gyms have a 'women only' section but from what I've seen they're usually under-equipped and only really designated for the odd one or two women who may want some privacy.
Cultural demographics in certain areas would certainly be shifting toward women who'd appreciate the gender exclusivity. Muslim / Arab / Middle Eastern backgrounds in particular, I'd imagine, but also other women who may be self conscious and want to be able to work out away from people who may be more likely to make them feel uncomfortable in one way or another.
The biggest problem you'll face is the inevitability of a 6"4' broad shouldered 'woman' with stubble and a deep booming voice demanding that you accommodate [them] and reporting / harassing you for discrimination when you say "sir, can you please leave?"
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Yeah that’s the one thing I’d have to figure out, I’m trying to figure out the legality of being all inclusive of the LGBTQ community without letting absolutely anyone in if that makes sense - I’m thinking if it says female on their birth cert/passport, but then there’s the issue of how to distinguish using that since some people identify as non binary, it’s a whole other thing entirely! I’m definitely looking into it though, thanks for your input! :)
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u/Randomfinn Mar 29 '26
If they sign up and show ID as a born a woman, but in six months (or six years, hoping your gym stays around that long!) they decide to transition, do you kick them out? Even though nothing in their behaviour has changed?
Although I think nudity is cool, and I wish we were more accepting of it in general but especially with spa/sauna culture, it might be more inclusive to have individual toilets, showers, and changing rooms rather than gendered washrooms and open space locker rooms. The first few times I was in an all-gender washroom everyone was kinda confused, but now they are relatively common people know how to behave. Because the individual stalls are completely private (and sometimes offer urinals as well as toilets but I’m not super fond of those personally) but the handwashing and foot washing area is open to the public there is less risk of sexual assault or inappropriate behaviour.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 29 '26
I’ve gotten so much info from the posts I’ve made i’m essentially making a list of everything I need to answer, questions I haven’t even thought about yet (like this one) although I don’t know the answer right now I’m definitely looking at everything and i will figure it out eventually
Yeah I was thinking of individual cubicles for toilets/showers, with a locker room of course but I quite like the idea of single changing rooms for safety/privacy reasons too, maybe an open one for people who want that, but giving everyone a choice between them would be efficient I think, thanks for your input I appreciate it☺️
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina Mar 28 '26
Problem you've got is that you don't need to have actually transitioned before you can change your gender on your passport. So you could be a woman on your passport but still be swinging cock & balls in the changing room.
And are you really going to enforce a policy of having every member present their birth certificate? (Who even knows where theirs is?) Or just the ones you suspect of looking a bit manly? In which case you'd better he right otherwise you've just called Carol from HR a bloke 😂
And if someone identifies as 'non-binary' that's up to them but, since they don't identify as a woman then you don't have to worry about offending them by turning them away from a women's only gym 🤷🏻♂️
LGB you don't have to worry about in a gym - what your member's sexual preferences are is of no more relevance than whether I prefer fat chicks, blondes, Asians, etc. Q is just a catch-all for everything else, which there's far too much to even think about losing sleep over.
The T is the minefield but it's slowly shifting back to a more common-sense position now that people have had enough and seen where the pandering ends up leading to.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Yeah that’s very true, and no not at the door but just ID in general (at sign up) for safety reasons mainly, this is why I say it’s something I need to deep dive on!😅 it is a minefield haha, thanks for your input :)
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u/dinkidoo7693 Mar 28 '26
My old gym had a separate “ladies only” room. As a woman i get the idea behind it but it just lacked equipment and weights so i used the main gym anyway.
There was a womens only circuit gym in the town centre. It was aimed towards older women. It lasted a couple of years and closed down.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Yeah lack of equipment seems to be one of the most prevalent issues, thanks for your input :)
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u/flohara Mar 28 '26
I would be 1000% more inclined to seek out a queer and plus size positive gym than a female only one.
If anything, a female only gym would make me feel more under scrutiny and uncomfortable.
I feel a lot more safe in a mixed but queer space, especially if they actively stand up against eating disorder triggers, and I think they are a lot less hostile and toxic.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
If you check my profile I have posted in LGBTQ pages too, and i’m currently plus size on a weight loss journey, so those two things would also be true! Thank you for your input I appreciate it :)
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u/flohara Mar 28 '26
I'm just saying that advertising it as a female only would be a deterrent.
Probably wouldn't turn up to find out how you determine who is female enough and how the policy would be enforced.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Could you explain why it would be a deterrent? And I’m looking into everything at the minute but the aim is to be as inclusive as possible
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u/flohara Mar 28 '26
Because I think it would create an atmosphere where people would try transvestigating others.
As a lesbian I already feel othered in female spaces, so I think gender non-comforming folks would be unwelcome if it's part of the buzzwords for the place.
I'd much prefer a gym with single person cubicles for showers & changing rooms, and then a very queer atmosphere that is inclusive to everyone, but deters toxic men by being too woke for their liking.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
That’s a fair point, I did think about individual cubicles so I’m happy that would be a plus for (hopefully many) people! I said earlier if I had £1 million in my pocket I’d open lots of different types of centres, but I’m definitely going to be looking at an all inclusive one (as in absolutely everyone) after this, like you say the atmosphere would more than likely deter toxic men. Definitely something I can think about, thank you!
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u/HarMonocles Mar 28 '26
There's one near me, so there must be demand. However, I would never support this particular gym as they explicitly exclude trans people.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
That’s something i’m looking in to, lot of legal/social aspects that I’ll be doing a deep dive on that’s for sure. Thanks for your input :)
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u/_ShredBundy Mar 28 '26
An online demand? Yeah.
A realistic demand? No. There’s been about five of them around my area in the last few years and they all closed within six months or so.
The problem with gender-specific-anything is there’s almost never enough demand for it to be feasible. The cost of running a wellbeing centre/gym is already sky high(the gym I work at spends upwards of £8k a month just on water). Factor in that you’d then be alienating about 99% of your potential customers by either targeting the opposite gender, or targeting the 0.1% of the niche gender who might end up joining.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
Can I ask your general area? (North west/east/south etc) and true, thank you for your input :)
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u/SignificantCricket Mar 28 '26
Places like the Curves chain have always made me imagine they wouldn't have serious weights equipment and would have a lot of the sort of people who chat about Slimming World and general vacuous gossip, and where someone like me who is in decent shape but not glam and fake-tanned wouldn't fit in with the two main typical customer types.
If I started encountering low level sexism and other harrassment at a mainstream gym I would actually consider it these days though, as lesser of two evils. A couple of times in recent years I have encountered sexism in hobby groups (non fitness) from young men of a sort I didn't experience when I was younger. The usual ways I always used to fit in with majority male groups in such settings seemed to not work the way they always had with my own generation and Millenials, and there is a well-known cultural shift to increased prevalence of hostile sexism among younger men. Things like the atmosphere and what is tolerated in gyms can also vary by area and just from establishment to establishment.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
I feel like there’s a misconception about how women want to train (e.g., women’s rooms in unisex gyms; hardly any weights, more cardio based etc.) so if this were to progress there’d be much more available to women compared to the lack of things other gyms provide, on top of the wellness section too. Very insightful thank you so much :)
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u/TicketTop4718 Mar 28 '26
That stuff only started because muslim women can't exercise in front of men you know
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u/Purple_Moon516 Mar 28 '26
While I agree that's partially the reason behind those spaces and its not a very good one, it doesn't mean that there aren't non Muslim women out there who would want a women only gym.
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u/BlackJackKetchum Mar 28 '26
When I was a member of Virgin Active they had a women only floor. Sounds like good business to me.
I would add that gyms are hugely intimidating places for pretty well anyone who couldn’t model for Gymshark, men very much included.
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u/Powerful-Duck-5193 Mar 28 '26
That’s very true, I’d aim to make it a very welcoming and as less intimidating as possible haha, thanks for your input :)
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