Women come in all shapes and sizes and categories. My bathing suit told me to go to the gym but my sweat pants said, “Nah girl, you are good”. Yet I am somewhere in between and still hit the gym. While working out, I looked around and observed the following kinds of women –

1. Perfect 10 Girl –She will catch everyone’s attention as soon as she walks in. She has the perfect body, making you wonder if any further workout is really required for that. Her silky hair is left open and she would not break a sweat, making you feel like a pig in comparison. She carries off the trendiest sportswear with élan and does strenuous exercises without much effort.
2. New Mommy –This girl will be carrying her baby weight and is determined to do everything it takes to lose it. She will be dieting, exercising and doing it all while handling an infant. She will share her pre pregnancy pictures and use that as an inspiration to get there as fast as possible.
3. “Been carrying baby weight for many years” mommy– For those who know me, I fall in this category. Our kids are already in kindergarten but we use pregnancy as our excuse for the weight gain. We are exercising with dedication to lose weight but we are big foodies at the same time! The temptation to eat makes it difficult to lose weight. A good day at the gym means a food treat as reward. We have somehow managed to strike a balance of exercise and calories so as not to gain any additional weight!
4. Need to stay fit Girl –These girls remind me of my twenties when work out was uncomplicated and done simply to stay fit. They may be only a few kilograms up or down but are not so obsessed with losing weight or inches. They just want to tone their bodies to stay fit and healthy.
5. Gossip Girl –Gym is just another social outing for this girl. She may be fat or fit but her only objective of coming for her work out is to meet her friends and have a good time. One day you will find her taking selfies, another day clicking pictures with her friends. She is not concerned with which machine she spends her time on or which exercise she does. She may follow around her friends and her work out ends when they are done. She may spend more time talking than exercising in the gym. After all our mouths also need exercise!
6. “I don’t know what I am doing” girl –She’s new to the gym and overwhelmed by the machines. She’s self-conscious and really nervous on how to go about it. Your reassuring smile or word of encouragement may help her a great deal.
7. “In her own world” Girl –She always puts on her headphones and her favourite tracks at the highest volume that you can hear if you are exercising next to her. She is into herself, not into talking to anyone. She comes to workout, finishes her training and goes. Occasionally you may exchange a smile with her but that’s as far as it goes.
8. Cardio Queen –Nobody makes us feel worse about ourselves than the cardio queens at the gym. They power through on a cross trainer on the highest level, cycle for 20 minutes, before ending with a super-fast run on the treadmill. It is like being in the presence of robots. They can spin and make your mind spin too!

Everyone who comes to the gym has a different priority. But it feels good to draw energy and motivation (for different things) from such a fertile population. So happy working out ladies!

So what kind are you? 

This article was first published on Momspresso (erstwhile mycity4kids).