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Innocent Choga Fitness
I have often had people asking me if they can also join the gym because they think they do not fit into the criteria required. The reason being that they think they are too thin or too big and they fear ridicule from other members. Others think their physical challenges disqualify them. Some think because they are female, they might lose their femininity. Yet others still believe weight training will stunt children’s growth. Another fear I hear often is that people would like to join a gym but they do not like to get muscular.

I always try to reassure everyone that the gym is for everybody, no matter what type of physique one has. We are all born different and unique whether we are big or small, straight- legged, bow-legged, knock-kneed etc.

We all possess unique physical qualities and talents. Some of us have been born physically challenged, some have been unfortunate to get involved in accidents. We should understand that handicaps are no barrier to life, therefore no barrier to excise. The secret is to understand our individual needs and tailor a programme accordingly. For example, a person with disabilities would need to exercise muscles that are rarely used as well as the ones that they do use.

I think the stigmatisation that people fear is within themselves rather than in others. For the over 30 years that I have been in the gym I have never ever witnessed anyone laughing at another person because of their body type or disabilities. Rather, most gym going people are very helpful.

I have a friend who is physically challenged. He cannot use his legs but he goes to the gym a minimum of four days per week and all the time he gets help to hoist his wheel chair quite a number of stairs up and no one ever complains. My friend is so bold he will not hesitate to ask for help and he is a very much liked member in the gym. He is so much into other sports as well, he is an inspiration.

Women should also feel free about claiming their space in the gym. They can use weights without fear. It is not easy for a woman to get big muscles. The natural make up of a woman is such that they have lower blood volumes than men, and they do not have a lot of the hormone testosterone. This combination of high blood volume and testosterone enables men to get big and muscular. Oestrogen, the hormone that makes women feminine, is lipid based therefore women naturally have more body fat than men.

This fat is necessary, as it also enables them to feed the babies in and out of the womb. But it makes it a very hard task for a woman to get muscular. One has to want to be muscular say for female body builders. Such women have to be so focused on that goal such that they have to change their diets drastically.

Weight training is actually very good for women; it is one best way to tone their physiques. The small muscles they build under their recommended levels of 15 to 25 percent body fat makes them even more feminine and appealing despite their size. This small amount of muscle will also assist in burning excess fat.

Muscle is lighter than fat and muscle occupies less space than fat so there is no way women will reduce bulk with weights. Even pregnant women can use weights right up to the time of delivery. Weight training is even much safer at this time than other forms of exercise. Besides delivery will be much less painful so I hear though of course I cannot attest to that as a fact. The small numbers of women who get muscular could be mesomorphs; a natural type of body that gains weight so easily, but even then being women, they have to work really hard. Unfortunately some of the muscular women could be using illegal and banned drugs such as synthetic testosterone. In older women; weight training also helps in handling some of the symptoms of menopause which include stress, depression and weight gain.

Children as well can benefit a lot from using weights. Apart from the general advantages applicable to everyone, it will help to build a sense of body awareness. Because children are not fully developed they will not get muscular like adults and weight training will never stunt their growth.

I must say that I strongly feel school children should not take body building as sport they should just do weight training for motor skills and even then have to be monitored because they cannot afford to get injured at this stage.

Their strength levels are low so they should not strive through heavy training. I intend to have a separate article on training needs for children, but the bottom line is that, research has proved that it is possible and beneficial for children to use weights. I personally have had the opportunity to work with children and some of them are taller than me now.

As for the men, (like my friend Gift who asked this question) who do not want to get too muscular, it is possible. Getting very muscular is not easy, you have to want that and your lifestyle has to be tuned to that goal.
Weights and bells are dumb, but your body is not.

Weights are there are at your disposal to use to achieve what you want. Weights can be used to gain weight, gain strength, to reduce weight, improve blood circulation or even to just maintain a certain level of fitness.

Your training programme can be devised to suit your goals. It can be in terms of training frequency, duration, routine, and the amount of weights used, number of repetitions and the percentage of free weights to machine use.

These elements vary in relation to your goals; the gym instructors’ are there to assist you to stitch a good program. Sometimes people do not enunciate their exact intentions but some instructors will know in time exactly what the client wants.
So the gym is for everybody. All people who go to the gym have different intentions and they all assist each other to achieve their goals.

Do not feel intimidated by the next person, what they want might not be what you want.
Some of the people you meet in the streets may show no signs that they lift weights, but they could have been lifting for years. It is just that their goals are not about getting muscular bodies.

Contact;[email protected] Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is currently studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport.