Read this if you’re a woman that wants to start strength training.

Last week co-founder Tig was on the What the health! Podcast hosted by Gabby Allen and they had a chat about all things StrongHer -how the whole thing started, how and why we’ve made improvements to new member onboarding  and last but not least - why we don’t have a stairmaster! Read the interview in full and have a listen here:

Gabby (host):  I hear that you've set up a female-only gym, which I think is amazing, and I wish there were more of these on every bloody street corner. What was the reason for setting up StrongHer then? 

Tig: There were actually quite a few reasons for it, but myself and my co-founder, Sam, years and years ago, we both used to be professional dancers and we both had our own ways in which we weren't comfortable with weight training.
After dancing, we became female personal trainers. And then we just started to recognize that personal training wasn't accessible to a lot of people but also that women were just scared of taking on weight training. 

So ultimately we wanted to get more women into weight training and taking away that fear. So that if they can do that, then it unlocks their ability to do anything else!

Gabby (host): I love that! I think a lot of women, including a lot of my friends, would say ‘I'm going to the gym’. And then I’d ask ‘oh, what are you training’? The answer is usually, ‘I'm just doing a class’.

Don’t get me wrong, I'm a class bunny, love them. You know, I used to teach loads and loads of classes, but not a lot of women have the confidence to step into a gym. It's not just the confidence, but it's the experience, it's the knowledge. Also, we do have the added annoyance of men, just in general, but in the gym it can make you feel uncomfortable, especially if you do feel like you don't know what you're doing. Was that part of the reason as well?

Tig: There's a lot of men that own gyms and there’s a lot of research that goes into how to train women. It doesn't mean it has to be massively different, but there are certain nuances that women go through in their life. We felt these were being ignored, we felt like nobody else was acknowledging that women need to train a certain way around their cycles. Things need to be taken into consideration: pregnancy, menopause, there's cultural reasons as well (e.g. women can't train in front of men). So none of these things were being looked at at the time. So then we decided we need to be those people that do it! And it just kind of blew up from there.

Gabby (host):  Amazing! How important is it for you, then, to have this space? Do you want to have more of them? Is that the goal? 

Tig: Yeah, we want more of them! We position ourselves as the people that are getting more women into weight training. So it's not necessarily that they'll stay with us for the rest of their lives, but we are that grassroot area, if you will, and we don't feel like there's enough spaces that offer that. So, yes, there's fitness spaces that cater for women, but in terms of educating them on the importance of strength training and then allowing them to unveil what they can do - there aren’t many places that do that. So for us it is really important to position ourselves in different communities, in different spaces, hopefully across the UK, to get more women into strength training so then they can go on to do other things. We've had people not trying crossfit because they were too scared to do it; they came to us first, then they went into crossfit or they've gone into competitions. So we are the entry point!

Gabby (host): I love that! So how do you guys do it? What would a person's journey look like?


Tig: 63% of people who join gyms end up cancelling or not using them. And a lot of this is due to lack of education. So now we start with a consultation, then the new-joiner goes through an onboarding program which is six weeks long. They are assigned a coach, they're told which sessions or classes they should go to based on their goal, and they're given nutritional support as well. At the end of the six weeks then they have the choice whether they leave and continue training independently or they stay with us and continue their journey. But we know by the end of the six weeks that we've done right by them and given them the most accurate information and education. So, no matter where they go, they've done it the right way and they understand their body and they're more confident.
That’s how we do it. So we kind of take that class element, but we do it with heavy lifts instead. So it's something that they're used to (the class), but with something new added (heavy lifts).

Gabby (host): That's sick. So they basically get a structured program, but in a large group.

Tig: It's large group personal training. That's how we position ourselves and that's what we are now: a personal training gym. So you have large group personal training which is classes of 14. Compare this to a lot of classes in London where there are 30-40 people! 

Accountability is one of the biggest things. People start but then they don't know how to continue. So what we do is give them all the support that they need,  in order for them to make a well-educated decision in the end. 

Gabby (host): That's amazing. I absolutely love that concept. It's so different as well, why hasn’t this been done before? It’s actually so great. How would you describe your clientele then? 

Tig: I would say the majority are newer to lifting. We do have members who have dipped their toe in, had a PT before, had a break and have just lost their confidence with it, but I would say definitely on the newer side. So anybody with less than 6 months of training, but they know they want to make a change and they're tired of being afraid. 

But we also do have quite a few people that know what they are doing, they just want to be in the environment. They love the community, they love what we stand for, and this is where they want to train. Some people have been with us since we've opened, so nearly four years now. Some of them are now competing, some of them are coaches - their journeys have been insane!

Gabby (host): This is amazing! I can see StrongHer in South London, West London, etc - it's a no-brainer. That's incredible.
So, speaking of which, then, we know that the fitness industry, most gyms, are owned by men, and we know the gym could be quite an intimidating space. However, I do think that it is a lot more approachable now for women, maybe because more women are going to the gym. So when I go into the gym and I can see some girls in my peripheral, it makes me feel a little bit more confident - because I'm not the only female in there. How do you think it's evolved over the years? Do you still train at your gym only, or do you go to commercial ones as well?

Tig: I do both. Sometimes you just want to be around feminine energy, sometimes you want to be around masculine energy. So I like both, and we are not here to segregate, we're here to give women that have no confidence an option to start with. So if you feel uncomfortable, you can come and train at StrongHer.

The training environment has changed over the years, but at StrongHer it feels like it's changed more than it actually has outside the StrongHer bubble. In the commercial landscape I think there's so much more that can be done. There is a tiny amount of progression, but it's not anywhere near close to what it should be. It's going to take spaces like StrongHer to get more women lifting, put it out on their socials, talk about it, to then encourage more women to go into other spaces. But I’m not sure commercial spaces are where they should be.

Gabby (host): I see, yeah. I mean it's a mad world, right! Lastly, I have to ask: what is the stairmaster issue (laughs)? I love a stairmaster, but apparently you won't get one in StrongHer. Why?

Tig (laughs): Why do you love a stairmaster?

Gabby (host): Because I feel like I can have my Netflix on, but it’s not the same as walking on a treadmill. Come on then, tell me why you refuse to get a stairmaster!

Tig: We don't like it because of how it’s portrayed on socials: that if you want to grow your glutes, get on the stairmaster. I’ve got no issues with it as a different version of cardio, especially if you don’t want to just walk. That’s what it is for! But on the other hand, there’s so many other forms of cardio that aren’t so massive and clunky. 

And again, there is this whole trend of women wanting to grow their glutes, but not their legs - just their glutes. And then they try to do it on the stairmaster, but that's not what it's there for. So that’s our issue - there’s a lot of misinformation about the purpose of the stairmaster.

Gabby (host): That’s so fair! It’s the same as doing squats with a band to grow glutes. It’s not going to help really. 

Well, I think you're amazing. I think it's amazing what you and Sam are doing. I really hope to see StrongHer all over London and all over the UK eventually, because I think it's an amazing concept and I really wish you all the best with it. Thank you so much!


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