How to get more women active

"I just felt so uncomfortable when I walked in there because I am a bit heavier. Even the trainers were really not as polite to me as they were to other people."

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' in our guide

"We were doing group fitness classes then, and the trainers would be like ‘don’t give up’ and I’m not even about to give up. Why are you telling me not to give up or telling me to work harder? I was thinking they were quite nasty to my sister and we were having some difficulty. They made fun of the fact that we were having difficulty. They were like, ’You don’t need to have a break, do you?’"

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' in our guide

"The gym I used to go to…worked really well for me. I could actually work my shifts around those, because I really wanted to go, so that’s basically what I did. I stopped going there because of this woman who was one of the trainers she was awful. I remember her saying to me that I hadn’t lost much weight…After that I thought, ‘I can’t go back in’. I had six months left on that membership…I just couldn’t go back, I just could not walk in the door"

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' in our guide

"And I think part of the fear is not knowing how to use it [the equipment] properly, so I think knowing how to use it properly makes a difference for me to have the confidence to go over and do it. Whereas if you've got guys lifting really heavy weights, and you go over there and you're not doing it properly, you don’t feel right"

Solution: See 'Physical environment' and 'Culture and customer service' in our guide

"That is what I think of as the gauntlet, from the changing room to the pool…you’re pretty exposed and uncomfortable. I don’t know if you can see the photo, but behind this vertical purple glass, that’s the spa and the sauna. Without sounding rude, it’s usually full of middle-aged men who sometimes are just staring at people and the male changing room is nowhere near that, it’s just the women’s one that passes by there"

Solution: See 'Physical environment' in our guide

“A couple of years ago, we actually joined a women’s soccer team based in South Yarra; but it was way, way, way too competitive for what we were looking for. The team sort of took everything really seriously, and there was a lot of politics. The coach was really over-bearing, and everyone sort of treated it like it was the World Cup, and we were just sitting there going, ‘we just want to kick a ball around, and make a few friends, and have a bit of fun, and get some exercise. We did it for one season and then stopped”

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

“I’ve always had people question what I’m exercising for, like they would say, “You’re already skinny!” or as I’ve gotten older, “What are you still playing netball for? You’re too old!” That does make me question whether I should still play or be active.” 

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

“I think it's a sub-conscious thing that you think people are talking about you or judging you. They probably aren't, but for myself, I think people will be talking about me because I'm not like what I used to be [tennis ability and body size]…that they must be looking at me and going, ‘oh she's fat, she's unfit, whatever’.” 

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

“Actually I feel I belong better in a predominantly female environment when I'm playing sport. I prefer to play sport surrounded by the people that I know, people that I've got connections with, rather than starting something new and not knowing a single person. I think that would be really hard”

Solution: See 'Marketing' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

“Subconsciously, the dog ... having the dog with me makes me feel safer. At 5.30 in the morning there’s no way I’m going on my own. Even as a [running] group, if we see someone up ahead, we're like, ‘watch out. There's a man up ahead’, especially when they're not dressed in athletic gear”     

Solution: See 'Physical environment' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

"I think the thing that threw me off the most was that it seemed very cliquey, and that’s why I had these impressions, because I think everyone in the class seemed to have a friend, or they’d been coming for a while, so they’ve made friendships. So, you walk in the class, and they’re all standing around in their little groups talking, and it just didn’t feel very inclusive, it felt like they very much had their own groups. In saying that, the aerobics class that I do at the moment, it’s at my work, so actually I know pretty much everyone who does it, because they’re our clients. That one I’ve got no problem with, a really inclusive group. But it’s also like it’s very diverse, you’ve got older people who do it, younger people, men, women…”

Solution: See 'Culture and customer service' and 'Programs and activities' in our guide

“I work in a reasonably built up area but thought I would stick mainly to backstreets. On my way back I had a guy yell out of his window ‘keep running fatty’ which was really heartbreaking and not the first time something like this has happened”     

Solution: See 'Physical environment' and 'Culture and customer service' in our guide

“But this council also made the decision that they would organise personal training sessions...I ended up just getting harangued into going along. That was like a real shift for me, and I think it was largely because that was the culture. We would be there with the council’s handy blokes and they didn’t care about what they looked like, and they didn’t care about what I looked like. It was one of the first times that I thought, oh, no one cares and no one is judging” 

Solution: See 'Programs and activities' and 'Culture and customer service' in our guide