Big 2022 Trend? Women’s Gyms!

Womens Gyms Are Trending! Not a new idea but one that’s noticeably picking up speed in 2022. I’m pickin’ up speed too ever since I joined one, and now out of nowhere I’m dancing like ‘JLo’ in a halftime show, at 8am in the morning. 

I joined a womens’ gym called HealthyFit The Health Club For Women after all the pandemic isolation made me soft and agitated. I’m so happy with the experience of exercising at an all women’s gym, I’m telling other women about it to encourage them to look into the idea.

During the pandemic I tried to walk whenever I could, weather permitting. Being in N.Y. I often settled for power walking in Stop & Shop. Seriously, I would GO to Stop & Shop or Costco  during the pandemic just to MOVE. (Need to know which aisle for gluten free crispy onions? Just call me.) 

While out and about one day I ran into a gal who I used to take a great morning weight class with years ago. She was gushing about a women’s gym she joined called HealthyFit in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Our random run in was right after ‘pandemic laws’ allowed gyms to open again, and I was so fed up with walking supermarket aisles, I went to just ‘see’.

All I could muster up initially was walking on the treadmill with a mask on. A little uncomfortable with the mask but I  felt comfortable at the place. It was just what I needed. No drama. No hoopla. Easy parking. Very clean. Covid protocols in place. Nice dressing room. Nice gals. Zero pressure to do anything I didn’t want to do. I went there ‘ugly’ without one thought about it. That’s comfortable. Plus, I needed to do ‘something’ to get stronger again after noticing I was having trouble opening a potato chip bag. 

I joined. I started walking more intensely, added in lifting a few light weights, and started feeling more and more like my lively old self. Up to this point I hadn’t even spoken to another woman there. (I know hard to believe me not talking right?) I was just doing my thing whatever that is these days.

Soon I decided to try a few group classes. Yoga. Loved it. Weight class. Loved it. Zumba. OMG LOVE it!  (If you ran into the women in this class in the supermarket you’d never ever suspect how sexy they can dance. Ha! )

Women of all ages and sizes are very comfortable in this setting. I think more women should consider women’s gyms right now as a way to get healthier and stronger and I’m hoping to inspire some with this story.

I invited HealthyFitNY Fitness Director Jamie Levine to join me today to talk about the trend of women’s gyms. (Jamie’s an aerobic teacher, turned school teacher, turned mom, turned lawyer, turned back into Fitness Expert)

Jamie says, people are kind of shy to get started exercising again after the pandemic and they remember the big gyms with the big scenes and don’t want people watching them. A women’s gym is a safe comfortable space with no judgement. The comfort level and the camaraderie of community, encourages women to do more and push themselves more. It boosts everybody’s energy. The moms, aunts, grandmas, and even the high school girls after school. 

Jamie Levine and I have a warm chat talking about the why behind the rise of Womens’ Gyms in this podcast.