Take progress pics
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Catching a glimpse of your sick pump in the mirror means you have to document the moment to admire later. You work hard in the gym, and checking out your progress from week to week is one of the easiest ways to keep you motivated. So, don’t feel embarrassed about the 20 locker room snaps you take every gym session!
Bring a friend
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Working out alone can be super boring at times. When you have a pal there sweating beside you, it makes the time fly by. It is always nice to have someone to encourage you when you feel like giving up. It’s also helpful to have someone to spot you when lifting weights or a friend who’s a little more experienced to give you tips throughout your workout.
Wear a great outfit
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Gymshark makes workout sets for a reason. You love looking your best every day, and just because you’re sweating it out in the gym doesn’t mean you can’t wear a fire outfit. All women tend to choose their gym fits carefully. You need something stretchy, comfy, and adorable to grab a post-workout smoothie in.
Powerlifters will don a pump cover
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Some women don’t like lifting in a sports bra and shorts and prefer to wear a big T-shirt to cover their growing muscles. Pump covers also help you sweat it out more, and it creates a barrier between you and the machine of your choice. That band t-shirt that is three sizes too big came in handy after all!
Do a pit-sniff check
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Face it, sweaty pits stink sometimes. When you’re in the groove, it’s easy to forget to apply deodorant before heading out to the floor and putting in work. Giving your armpits a quick, discreet once over is super common and sometimes, much needed. Sniff away, gals!
Borrow techniques from other gym-goers
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Women are perceptive beings. Sometimes, when you catch a woman staring at you as you lift away, it can be distracting. You’re likely assuming they are glaring and judging you’re every move. In reality, they are probably in awe of your form and making mental notes for their own performance. Take it as a compliment – you know you do it too.
Use dry shampoo in the locker room
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A sweaty, greasy scalp is one of the more irritating byproducts of the gym. Those who work out in the early mornings before class or work may not have time to commit to a full wash before going about their day. Dry shampoo is a saving grace, and it allows you to feign a fresh wash until you can get home and put your Ouai detox shampoo to work.
Wear headphones
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Working out alone can be a nerve-wracking experience. This is where headphones come in for women. Creeps at the gym will look for any excuse to talk to you, and headphones let them know your ears are out of commission. Also, listening to music or your favorite podcast is a perfect gym tradition all women look forward to.
Do the 12-3-30 workout
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This viral cardio workout has taken TikTok and the wellness community by store. It’s intense, but not exactly grueling, so doing it every deal is totally feasible, allowing you to achieve incredible legs and stamina with just a 30-minute commitment per day. You can even do this workout on the treadmill and end your session right there – that’s how effective it is!
Focus on their legs and glutes the most
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Women want a butt that strikes envy in everyone they pass. They also want legs to die for, which is exactly why you’ll notice women spending so much time working on their squats and developing their lower bodies. After all, there’s nothing like a tight pair of jeans to show off your progress.
Have a designated locker
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We have a routine when going to the gym. We park in our favorite spots and trudge our way into the locker room to stuff our belongings in the perfect locker. Though they aren’t exactly assigned, you can’t help but get furious when you notice your everyday locker is occupied the second you walk in. Don’t they know it's YOURS and only yours?
Convince themselves to stay longer
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You’re halfway through the week, and all you want to do is go home and eat the biggest bowl of pasta known to man. But, you know another half hour is what you need, and against your wishes, you end up sweating it out even longer than usual. It’s the worst, but it is so worth it.
Adjust their hair or ponytail
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Bad hair days affect the gym too. Sometimes, you just can’t get your ponytail to stay up, or your bangs keep falling into your face. Maybe the frizz is embarrassingly out of control, or your braids keep coming loose. Either way, we’ve all experienced the struggle of a mane that just keeps interrupting our cardio.
Admire the physique of other women
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Some other women have the most incredible figures, and it’s common for a woman to stare in awe as they make their way from machine to machine. Other ladies are our biggest source of inspiration, and seeing somebody with your body goals so close by tends to give you hope for your own progress.
Avoid the creeps
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You know exactly what time that loser that won’t stop hitting on you comes in, and you’ve perfected your smooth exit so you miss him every time. Either that, or you’ve bought the biggest, most menacing headphones around to thwart their skeevy efforts. Either way, as a woman, you’re a total pro at keeping the creepy folks out of your lane.
Listen to their designated gym playlist
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Women love consistency, and there’s nothing like a perfectly curated workout playlist to keep you motivated and entertained. You’ve likely created the ideal order for your session, leaving the best songs for the middle to end of your workout to give yourself the push you need to finish strong.
Overdo it on cardio
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This is something all women do when they first start going to the gym. It is easy to get caught up in wanting to lose fat so badly that you end up stressing out your body with excessive cardio. Strength training is a crucial step too, and it keeps you from causing unnecessary stress to your body through workouts that may not help you burn fat as quickly as you’d like.
Get competitive
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The person next to you got on the treadmill at the exact same time, and there’s no way you’re going to be the one to give up first. This competitiveness is what drives you, and it helps you push your limits so you can keep improving and stay in perfect shape.
Get mad when someone uses their favorite machine
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Why is everyone on the elliptical whenever you want to use it? It seems like every person in the gym has read your mind and follows your exact routine whenever you’re feeling the most irritable and impatient. Easy fix: just stare daggers into the back of their head until they telepathically feel your silent wrath.
Get excited when their gym friend arrives
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No, we’re not talking about the buddy you bring to the gym. We’re talking about the girl you see in the locker who always compliments you as you’re getting ready to leave. She’s honestly the best part about going to the gym, and you think about her occasionally during the week, wondering if she’s just as cool in her everyday life.
Wear a recently used sports bra
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It doesn’t smell too bad… right? In fact, it’s barely even dirty if you’ve only worn it once or twice. It’s not like your boob sweat is extra smelly. Unless it is. Then we’re totally not judging you. But anyway, who has ten spare sports bras lying around? Sometimes, you can barely even find one.
Forget their sneakers
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You’ve searched near and far for your keys, loaded up on pre-workout, and hurried to feed your pets before you head off to the gym. As you walk into the building, you look down and gasp in horror: you’re still wearing your house slippers. In fact, you’re sneakers are still by the door at home. Don’t beat yourself up about it too much – it’s probably not the first time it’s happened, and it definitely won’t be the last.
Crave junk food toward the end of their session
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McDonald’s sounds like a gourmet meal at the end of a vicious workout. As a woman, you’ve definitely driven all the way to your nearest fast-food joint to scarf down a medium fry and an ice-cold Coke as a treat for your unwavering diligence. After all, you deserve it!
Steal the toiletries
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Some gym memberships can run you up to $300 per month. At that point, there is zero reason why you should ever be purchasing something as trivial as lotion when you can load up on Kiehl’s in the locker room. Don’t forget to take the Malin + Goetz soap on your way out.
Consider a training session but never schedule one
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Kickboxing has been sounding pretty awesome to you. Or maybe you’ll give tennis a go. Perhaps you’ve been looking for some strength training direction. As ladies, we will consider all of our options very carefully, which tends to end up in a months-long bout of procrastination. By then, your free training session coupon has expired, and you’re back to square one.
Join a class and never return
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Remember when you thought Zumba was your new thing? We won’t even get you started on your brief stint with Pilates. There’s something so joyfully feminine about signing up for a yoga class, purchasing a mat and a brand-new outfit, and never showing up for week two.
Ask other ladies where they got their outfit
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This is serious. You have to know where she got those shorts from. They don’t ride up, her butt looks great, and you’ve honestly never encountered comfier fabric. Women will always ask each other where their gym fits are from. It’s pretty much in our blood to do so.
Rethink their lives after an intense workout
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You may never go back to the gym again after this workout. You can barely feel your legs! Maybe you should focus on something easy for a hobby, like solving puzzles. This is what a super difficult gym sesh can do to even the strongest of gals. Just take some time to recover and don’t make hasty decisions on leg day.
Bring a fancy water bottle
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This is probably the best part about establishing a gym routine. It gives you an excuse to buy one of those massive Hydro Flasks and take it absolutely everywhere with you. You can’t even go to Starbucks anymore without loading it up for the ride. Forgetting it is out of the question – you’ll fully turn the car around to run back home and grab it, even if you’re just pulling into the gym parking lot.
Delay their set until they find the perfect song
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Wait, it’s not this one. Hmm, not this one either. Maybe this one? Nah, too slow. The truth is, everything else can wait until you’ve found the ideal song to begin your workout to. It needs to be upbeat, girl-bossy, super loud, and not too long. Perhaps you should’ve picked it out before you got to the machine, but oh well, nobody’s perfect!