If you weren’t already a frequent gym-goer, then your undergraduate years at Simon Fraser University are the perfect time to start. Cast aside your go-to excuses of “I don’t have time” or “I don’t have the money” or, god forbid, “I don’t want to get bulky.” Many girls might find it easier to attend the gym on campus because of it’s proximity—it’s the giant Lorne Davies complex smack in the middle of campus! And hey, a portion of our mandatory student fees goes straight to SFU Recreation, so why not make good use of the university’s expansive, double-floored fitness center?
The fitness center carries a large array of machines and equipment for your endless experimentation. It’s “free,” and the threat of a torrential downpour is mitigated unless you choose to idle beside a furiously moving cardio machine, on which a rapidly sweating student is gasping for their life.
Working out becomes a much-needed distraction from the constant, sluggish cycle of studying that students are perpetually stuck in. An hour-long session at the gym is an hour in which you don’t have to think about all your academic problems! The feel-good endorphins your body is rewarded with from working out might even help make studying more bearable, not to mention all the added mental and physical health benefits of exercise that 12 grueling years of public school has tried to drill into our heads.
Bear in mind that many girls’ idea of “going to the gym” consists of forming a static and—might I be so bold to say?—boring hour-long relationship with their cardio machine of choice. While this is obviously far better than living a sedentary lifestyle, why are women, and especially beginners, so afraid of joining our male counterparts on the bottom floor of the fitness center in the weight room? Still running amuck is that old, pre-conceived myth that dedication to cardio can result in thinness, but the introduction of weightlifting into a regime could result in “bulking up.” But fear not! Women do not naturally have the levels of testosterone needed for that. Even though this age-old adage has been debunked many times over, there still exists a fear of the weight room. Whether that’s due to fear of the unknown, fear of looking stupid (but honestly, everyone is too engrossed with themselves to pay any attention to you), fear of dropping a weight on your toe or possibly your face, fear of ripping up your expensive manicure (personal side-note: my talons never actually touch the bar, but I do wear gloves to prevent callouses) or even fear of sweaty men, there is too much fear that prevents women from accessing all of the positive aspects of weightlifting, as well as the fun of doing it!
I am definitely not a professional, but my fifteen years as a competitive-but-not-really athlete gives me the authority to preach the following: one cannot rely only on cardio. Obviously, cardio is the way to lose the layer of fat covering up the muscles, but you have to incorporate some sort of resistance training in addition to the cardio in order to have that muscle in the first place. And everyone knows the more muscles one has, the more calories they naturally burn, and such an increase in metabolism is generally seen as a good thing.
My purpose here isn’t so much to explain how you might begin moving into the weight room, but more so it is about putting the idea in your head to start, so you can see it as something enjoyable rather than dreaded. SFU Recreation on the Burnaby campus does offer free tours, orientations, and consultations to help get you started. And for the people whose fear is talking to living, breathing human beings, the entire world of the Internet is at your command where you can access descriptions of exercises. My suggestion is to watch YouTube videos of professionals in order to start off with proper form. One of my favourite female lifters and vloggers is Nikki Blackketter, who is #goals all the way and has beautiful squat and deadlift forms, in addition to really fun and colourful gym clothes.
Feeling comfortable in the weight room will take some time, but the fun is all in the exploration and improvement. Being able to choose your own personalized combination of resistance exercises is a lot more fun and freeing than being limited to going nowhere on a treadmill for an hour or whatnot.
I realize weightlifting may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me—and I’m sure many others out there—it became a hobby and is something that I now do for fun. It’s what I look forward to doing every day and it is both a form of mental relaxation for me, as well as a mental and physical challenge that pushes me to constantly improve. There is no greater satisfaction than being able to lift more weight than you were able to do two weeks before. I can easily recall my delight when I went up from 25lb plates to 35lb plates at the squat rack, and that tiny feat was one that delighted me so much I had to share my excitement with all my friends and family. I never went into the weight room looking for instant results, but the results do show if you put in the effort and the time, doing both weights and cardio. They are gradual results that slowly creep up on you, and not just superficial results, but the feeling of muscle in your body, strength in your movements, one-ness with your facility and fellow lifters, a newly refreshed mind, and the excitement of pushing even further.