Burnley Leisure organised a free educational programme to bring together female members on the gym floor, educating and building on confidence around strength training in a hope to combat the insecurities it can often bring.
Common questions we get asked here at Burnley Leisure are: “Should I do more reps and lighter weights as all of the magazines and articles have told us online?” Or, should we ditch the pretty pink 2kg dumbbells, kettlebells and lift heavy but for fewer reps?”
All women are completely different so there is no specific answer for everyone. At Burnley Leisure we wanted to help our customers understand that it can be totally dependent on your goal, if you’re looking to drop body fat, wanting to gain muscle mass, want to run a marathon, compete in a Triathlon or looking to be UK’s Strongest Woman competitions, the categorisations can be endless.
No matter what our member’s objectives were, the fitness team were positive our programme would help our members achieve their own goals and build their confidence around the strength training area.
A four week plan was created across both of our sites, St Peters and Padiham Leisure Centres. Both of the instructors running the course taught identically so that members could feel confident in utilising both sites when it came to training alone.
During the weekly sessions we educated the ladies on how to use strength training equipment to train all areas of the body. Week one consisted of around 20 minutes discussing strength training facts and myths and answering any questions. We then moved on to initial rack set up for a leg training session – focusing primarily on the squat position, from set up, to form, to intensity. Week two focused on chest and triceps, followed by week three on back and biceps and finally week four we covered shoulders and any further queries that anybody had.
Operations Manager Sarah Drinkwater said
“Watching these ladies progress over the last few weeks gaining confidence both physically and mentally has been really inspiring for us here at Burnley Leisure. The excitement each week from the ladies when they come to tell us what workout they’ve been doing during the week, off of the back of the course and seeing how proud of themselves they are is invigorating for the trainers. We are already planning our next courses for our members.”
One of the ladies who attended the course Magdalena Krolik said
“The course was super, everything you wanted to know about weights but were too afraid to ask! Great session that answered all my questions and busted old myths about weight training. Now I feel more confident about doing squats and I’m not afraid that I will hurt myself doing them on my own.”
If you would like to try a membership Burnley Leisure offer a wide range of competitive membership packages for all fitness levels, including free personal training, outstanding group exercise classes with access to 17 gyms, 11 swimming pools and a ladies only exercise centre. For more information on tailoring a package to suit your needs please contact reception on 01282 664444.
