Girl Gains, a club started at Northwestern last year as a chapter of the national organization, aims to promote female weightlifting and make going to the gym a judgment-free experience for women.
Girl Gains teaches members about nutrition and healthy gym practices at its biweekly meetings. Alongside regularly scheduled workout classes, the executive members of the club share a gym schedule so girls can join them for a workout. They advertise their classes on the club’s Instagram page and offer a GroupMe link to get access to the calendar.
Bienen freshman and Girl Gains Director of Marketing Ovya Diwakaran came to NU knowing she wanted to join the club.
“The whole idea of the club is to make it a little less scary to get into the gym and to create a community of women that all go to the gym, regardless of why you’re there,” Diwakaran said.
Girls with all levels of workout experience and interest are encouraged to join the club to learn how to workout and develop their skills, Diwakaran said. While primarily aimed at weightlifting, club leaders also teach pilates, bodybuilding and yoga.
At the club’s first workout class of Winter Quarter, Girl Gains instructor and co-events coordinator Olivia Wright taught a full-body resistance band workout. Girls who signed up for the class ahead of time got to take the resistance bands home with them to practice the exercises they learned, Wright said.
“I really like the idea of having a community with just women because the gym is so heavily populated with men all of the time, and it’s really intimidating if you haven’t worked out at all before or know how to use gym equipment,” Wright said. “It can be intimidating to go and learn it yourself, so Girl Gains helps build that community and that comfort to learn and try new things.”
Students joined Wright at 8 a.m. on Feb. 2 at Henry Crown Sports Pavilion. The class focused on a full-body comprehensive workout with resistance bands, educating the girls on how to correctly use the bands to exercise.
This class was McCormick freshman Cameron Crawford’s first workout class with Girl Gains. She said it was harder than she expected, but she enjoyed being active.
“I really like how motivating it is,” Crawford said. “They’re not judgmental about where you start or your progress. It’s just centered around community and getting people active.”
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