Gym observations

I’m an observer. You?
I’m not judging, just noticing. I tend to notice patterns. In my counseling education and work experience, we learned that comes partly from personality type and partly from training. Well, my personality type is ISFJ in the Myers-Briggs, which definitely notices things, especially through the five senses. So anyway…….

In full transparency, these gym observations are going to be biased. Why? Because I’m passionate about health and fitness, especially for women and especially women over age 30. Even without the bias, I think these are worth talking about because……well, because research also indicates they are noteworthy patterns. Also to note, these gym observations come from my regular gym and hotel gyms in many different locations in the US and abroad over the span of 20+ years. Remember, these are general patterns. There will be exceptions and outliers.

1. women tend to focus on cardio—In my gym at home, women tend to do one of two things: attend a class or do cardio. There are a few women to be found using weight lifting equipment but the majority are not out there on the floor doing resistance training. 
2. very few people are following a strength training program—out of the people who are using weight lifting equipment (of all kinds-dumbbells, ez bars, cables/pulleys, machines, squat racks), very few are following a plan. Almost no one is following a program. This includes both men and women. 
3. many people do cardio and then some weights—again, this is general. I see lots of people do many minutes of cardio (20-30 min) and then tinker around with a few sets on 2-3 weight machines.
4. rest periods are lengthy—watching those who are doing some lifting, most people are choosing long rest periods between sets. This can double-triple the length of a workout session. Whether it’s talking to a friend or getting lost on the gram, lots of people take 2-5 minutes of rest between sets. 

What next? Should we analyze why these patterns exist or talk about best practices in fitness?