Why won’t women go to the gym?

Women who like going to the gym on the campus but who are not comfortable between sweaty men, can attend the ‘female fitness’ hour.

At 6pm sharp, fitness coordinator Martin Giljamse turns the music down and informs all men of the start of the ladies hour. One guy leaves with a puzzled expression on his face. Another guy already knew about it and quickly finishes his exercise. ‘Female fitness’ is one of the latest developments at the gym. There is also increased attention to hygiene and improved supervision for the visitors.

‘Awkward in between the guys’

Two female students who already were doing their exercises on the gym’s top floor, can of course stay. Iva Gospodinove, second-year IBA student, was not aware of the ‘female fitness’ hour, and is pleasantly surprised. “Now I can start working with the weights. Usually I’ll stay clear of those because I feel awkward between all these guys who know exactly how everything works.”

Mystery

Giljamse is glad to hear that Iva now decided to start weight training. “Exactly for this reason I introduced the females-only hour. Women won’t have to feel uneasy and can try everything.” However, it remains a mystery to the fitness coordinator why so few women have showed up. Is the gym hidden too much? Is there too much competition from body fit classes such as Tae Bo, Zumba or Steps?

Lose weight

“Women are lazy”, third-year med student Hanna Ning believes. According to her men want to develop their muscles while women only want to lose some weight. “And they rather opt for going on a diet.” Hanna has been a regular visitor of the gym for two years and did not especially come for the ladies hour. She is not concerned with the fact that the women are always outnumbered by men.

Low numbers

On this Tuesday night a few more women enter but the numbers remain low. The ‘female fitness’ hour was launched in September and continues until Christmas. Then Giljamse will decide whether the results are such that it is worth continuing with. LJ