23/06/2026
Since 2014 ,Gym culture has changed so much! Received a wee Facebook memory today. The year of this video in the slides was 2015 and some of these pictures are 2013+2014. Women didn't strength train other than the odd exception. It was cardio and running and cross trainers and spin classes and other hitt classes and measuring progress by the weight on the scales.
Except in the Shed Nightclub in Glasgow . Strength group training . In a nightclub. It was Dark. Disco lights. No mirrors. A sound system like no where else. We did it first . Private gym "club" concepts since then, even in commercial gym classes like spin, have all came from The Shed "bootcamp" which began in 2011. We encouraged people to sprint and not jog. Do less , not more. But focus more on quality work over quantity.
I heard it all:
" women will get injured lifting those weights"
" Women shouldn't lift above 10kg because is bad for their pelvic floor."
" If you let your knees go past your toes you'll ruin your knees."
" Deadlifting will damagae your spine."
"You are going to make those women get bulky by doing that. "
"You need cardio to lose weight"
"Eating protein will make you bulky"
"If you weight train and gain Muscle, it will just turn to fat as soon as you stop"
Gym culture has changed unrecognisably. These statements above seem mad now as science has caught up. But back in the 2010s this was the normal beliefs.
The Training Academy has been here for just under two years but we have been doing what we have been doing for way longer than that. Prioritising strength training and sprints. The changes I have witnessed in the fitness scene in Glasgow in the last 16 years has been incredible. A cultural shift. 💪💪💪
