May 5, 2026, 8:04 pm | Read time: 7 minutes
Women pedal for hours on cardio machines, while men lift and press the heaviest weights in the free weight area. That was the typical scene I encountered when I began my “gym career” as a teenager. Since then, some time has passed, and the picture has changed. More men are using treadmills, and women are increasingly turning to strength training. But are gyms meeting the new needs–especially those of female trainees? I don’t know. My feeling: Often, the “women’s areas” are expected to do the job. And I find that somewhat bothersome.
Women’s areas, “Lady Corner,” “Lady’s Gym”: different names for the same concept. A special area (a corner or a separate room) within a gym where–at least in theory (I’ve seen otherwise)–only women are allowed to train. Initially, this sounds like a good strategy to make gyms more attractive to women. However, several questions arise for me: Why do such spaces need to be created at all for more women to feel comfortable training in the gym? How should the offerings in these spaces be evaluated, such as the space and equipment? But perhaps the most crucial question for me is: Are these so-called women’s areas still timely, or are they a sign of settling for the bare minimum?
What Does a Women’s Area Look Like?
Women’s areas can vary from gym chain to gym chain or from gym to gym. Some gyms designate certain corners or sections as women’s areas. This is often done through design, color, and, of course, signage. They make it clear that only “ladies” should train here. These areas are often somewhat removed from the spaces frequented by men but not entirely isolated. Those who want to train completely shielded from male gazes might prefer gyms that offer separate rooms for women.
Equipment in Women’s Areas Often Inadequate
Apart from being more than once puzzled by the design of these “feminine areas” during visits to various gyms–similar to pink razors in drugstores–I was also often amazed by the equipment meant for women to effectively train strength and muscles. The possibility that women might also want to lift heavy weights, or might have even heard of training methods like “to muscle failure” or “drop sets,” seemed not to have occurred to those who set up the areas or rooms. My impression is that this is gradually improving. But for the number of women now training in most gyms, the equipment does not seem sufficient. Either female trainees have to wait a long time during peak hours to do their exercises, or they end up using the training areas also used by men, where they might feel–or actually be–even less welcome. After all, why are there separate women’s areas?
The Beginning of Women’s Areas
Weight and strength training was long a male-dominated form of exercise. Accordingly, gyms developed to cater to this target group. The aerobics boom of the 1980s led gym operators to discover women as a target group and attract them with appropriate classes. In the 1990s and 2000s, strength training gradually became a focus for women. But how to solve the problem that strength training areas were occupied by men, leaving little space for women? The idea of women’s areas was born and was certainly not a bad idea initially. This way, they wanted to offer female gym members a protected space (from unwanted looks or even harassment). How necessary this still seems to be was shown, among other things, by a study from 2025. Its result was that almost half of the female participants reported being confronted with unsolicited comments about their appearance in gyms. Nearly 80 percent of these comments, according to the women surveyed, came from men.1
For the initially probably manageable number of women who did strength training in the gym 20 or more years ago, the women’s areas were likely sufficient in size and equipment at first. Since the trend–at least as I experienced it when I started strength training–was more towards many repetitions with lighter weights, a few leg machines, mats for abdominal exercises, and light dumbbells for “female weight training” were often enough.
I Find Women’s Areas No Longer Timely
The equipment is one thing. In this regard, studios have evolved. Increasingly, there is also some equipment for heavy strength training in women’s areas–albeit usually in a limited scope.
But I ask myself the general question: Aren’t many gym operators resting on the fact that they have already provided separate areas for the women among their members? Or, provocatively asked: Should women be satisfied with that? For me, it would be timely and long overdue to design gyms in their entirety so that everyone–regardless of age, body weight, and gender–feels comfortable everywhere in the studio. Somehow, women’s areas give me the feeling that women are still supposed to isolate or hide themselves.
The idea that women don’t have to worry about unwanted looks or comments from men there may make sense to some. But I think: Shouldn’t it rather be enforced that this behavior is not tolerated at all? Wouldn’t it be great to reach a point where–at least for this reason–women’s areas are no longer necessary?
Should Women Hide?
Speaking of “hiding.” In this context, I also find some gym advertising critical. Recently, I often saw an ad from a gym chain where a young woman in leggings and a sports bra stands in front of the mirror. She seems to feel uncomfortable about her appearance and thinks she can’t go to the gym like that. The women’s area of the gym is offered to her as a solution. Although the next scenes emphasize that it’s also about women motivating each other during training and celebrating successes together, the clip always leaves a bad taste for me: On the one hand, it seems to be about a body ideal that I hoped was behind us. And at the same time, it conveys the feeling that the young woman should better train in the women’s area–in other words, “hide.” I’m sure this is not the intended message of the spot, but these statements resonate with me.
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Why I Don’t Want to Demonize Women’s Areas
Even though I can’t really warm up to the concept of women’s areas, I understand why some women like them. Because not every gym has an atmosphere that makes it easy for women to feel comfortable everywhere–especially in the free weight area.
But perhaps all-women gyms are generally the better choice: more space, more and better equipment, and no men at all. However, this is also a question of choice. In big cities, you have the luxury of choosing between gyms that are almost tailored to your needs. In more rural areas, this is not the case. There, women’s areas are at least a start in creating comfortable spaces for more pleasant training. Although I still maintain: More could certainly be done!
What I Would Personally Wish For
For mixed gyms, I would wish that they don’t settle for small women’s areas but instead design and equip the entire gyms for everyone. Why not conduct a survey in the gym to find out what trainees would need to feel comfortable everywhere–with special consideration of the needs of women and minorities? I would be very interested in this result.
And: Perhaps having more trainers and especially female trainers present and visible on the training floors would be beneficial. It would certainly improve the atmosphere and promote respectful interaction. Another advantage: Trainees could get tips or be proactively pointed out to mistakes and optimization possibilities. This was actually normal in gyms in the past and perhaps should be again.